Junko Tabei: The first woman to conquer Mount Everest

Junko Tabei, born May 23, 1939 in Japan, was the first woman to reach Mount Everest on May 16, 1975.

Junko Tabei was born in Fukushima Prefecture in 1939. She climbed Mount Nasu with a teacher when she was 10 years old.

Junko Tabei

After graduating from Showa Women's University majoring in English literature and joining a rock climbing club, Junko Tabei founded a women's climbing club called "Japan Women's Climbing Club". in 1969. She also often climbed with her husband. The couple has climbed Mount Fuji and some of the tallest mountains in Japan.

Yomiuri newspaper and Nihon television decided to organize an all-female climbing group to Nepal to conquer Mount Everest. 15 women, including Junko Tabei, were selected from hundreds of candidates to take part in this challenge.

After long and hard training, in early 1975, they went to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, recruited 9 local Sherpas to be the guide. They use the southeast corridor route, the path that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay have been at the summit since 1953. In early May, the women camped at an altitude of 6 300 meters, and an avalanche broke out. poured into their camp. The members, including Junko Tabei, were buried under the snow. She lost consciousness for about 6 minutes until her guide picked her up from the snow. 12 days after the avalanche, Junko Tabei became the first woman to set foot on Mount Everest.

In 1992, Junko Tabei also became the first woman to conquer the 7 highest peaks on 7 continents.

Junko Tabei died in 2016.