Alison Hargreaves becomes the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas.

In 1995, Hargreaves determined to climb, unaided, the three highest mountains in the world, Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. She made her first attempt of Everest in 1994 but abandoned the climb at just 450 metres because of frostbite. She was determined to go again and in one year’s time, she did. On 13 May 1995 Hargreaves made history when she reached the top of Mount Everest, becoming the first woman and only the second person in history to reach the 8,847.7-metre summit without supplemental oxygen, sherpas, or any other companionship. At the top, she immediately radioed her base camp and had a fax sent to her two children, then aged six and four, reading, “I am on the top of the world and I love you dearly.”

Jubilant with success, Hargreaves quickly planned her next expedition and just two weeks after returning home from Everest, left for K2 in Pakistan. At 8,600 metres, the peak in Pakistan is the second-highest mountain in the world, and, due to wild weather and fierce winds, one of the most daunting to climb. After a stormy and challenging climb, Hargreaves reached K2’s summit on 17 July. However, on 13 August 1995, exactly three months after she made history on Everest, Hargreaves made history again when a horrific storm took her life, along with those of her five fellow mountaineers.