Naperville Teen Becomes Youngest American Woman To Summit Everest

NAPERVILLE, IL — Lucy Westlake, 18, recently told Patch, "Sometimes the only limits are what you say you can do." The Naperville teen shattered limits, expectations and a long-time record when she became the youngest American woman to summit Mount Everest on May 12.

The previous record for an American woman had been held for 15 years by Samantha Larson, of California, who summited Everest on May 16, 2007. Larson was 18 years, nine months and seven days old at the time. Westlake made it to the 29,000-foot summit at 18 years, six months and eight days old.

Westlake, who started climbing mountains with her dad, Rodney, when she was just 7 years old, set out on her Everest journey April 18. Rodney and a group of friends and relatives climbed with her to base camp, which is at 17,000 feet.

Lucy Westlake climbed the remaining 12,000 feet with her sherpa, Mingma. On May 8, high winds forced the pair to descend from Camp 3 at 25,262 feet, to Camp 2 at 23,950 feet. After that, weather conditions remained favorable enough for Lucy to reach the summit just four days later.

"I came into the climb well-acclimated, as I had spent the past five weeks training with some of the best distance runners in the world in the highlands of Kenya at 7,000 feet. I am a distance runner as well, so my fitness level helped to endure the long, difficult days on the mountain,” Westlake said in a news release.

She added, “I also have a lot of experience climbing, so the challenges of Everest felt familiar.”

Westlake summited Mount Rainier at 11, conquered Mount Kilimanjaro at 12, climbed Mount Elbrus in Europe at 15, made it to the peak of Denali at 17 and reached the summit of Aconcagua at 18. At more than 22,000 feet, Aconcagua was Westlake's tallest mountain before her record-setting Everest climb.

Mount Everest can be challenging for even the most seasoned climbers. In May, temperatures on the summit of Everest can dip as low as -26 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition to freezing weather, Mount Everest's glacial surface can be deadly. The mountain is known for its crevasses, deep cracks in the ice that are often obscured by a layer of snow.

To date, it's estimated that more than 300 people have died climbing Mount Everest.

Westlake told Patch in April that she conquered her fear of heights at age 11, when she summited the 13,000-foot Gannett Peak in Wyoming.

She told Patch, "I kept repeating in my mind, 'The only thing to fear is fear itself.'"
"After I got up and down that mountain, I've never been afraid of heights since," she said. "I really had trust after that."

Don't think that just because Westlake reached her goal of summiting Mount Everest means she will slow down anytime soon. The teen aims to become the youngest woman on earth to complete the Explorer's Grand Slam in April 2023.

To achieve The Explorers' Grand Slam, someone must reach the highest summits on each continent and ski the North and South Poles. Westlake has already summited Kilimanjaro, Denali, Aconcagua, Elbrus, and now Everest. She'll have just three more mountains (Puncak Jaya, Vinson and Kosciuszko) and both poles left to conquer just as she's starting college.

“[I enjoy] pushing myself to the very max I can go because my life mantra is ‘limits are perceived,'" Westlake told Patch in April.

"That’s what I try to live out, especially in the mountains, she said.

“I really hope to inspire others to do the same. To show other people that they can climb whatever mountains they have in their life.”