Kristin Harila hopes her mountaineering magic becomes a foothold for other women looking to reach their zenith – even if that destination isn’t 29,000 feet skyward.
Harila, 37, reached the summit of Pakistan’s K2 on Thursday — conquering the world’s 14 highest mountains in 92 days, obliterating the previous record of 189 days.
She ascended Everest and a second peak on the same day, and between April and July moved between Chinese-controlled Tibet, Nepal and Pakistan with her Nepali climbing partner, Tenjin Sherpa, also known as Lama, to become a record-breaker.
The challenge of scaling the 14 top peaks — the only ones on Earth higher than 8,000 meters, or 26,246 feet — is one of the most difficult and dangerous in mountaineering.
In 2019, Nirmal Purja became the first person to climb all 14 in one season, but the Nepali mountaineer’s 6-month, 6-day record is now history.
With her feet back on firm ground, Harila hopes her achievement inspires other young climbers – especially women – to tackle any mountain in their way.
“I hope we can use this project to change how the industry and the community looks at women climbing,” Harila told The Post from Oslo Tuesday. “And hopefully it’ll make it easier for women after me to go climb, get sponsorships and get taken more seriously in the mountains.”
Harila, a former furniture executive, and her Nepali climbing partner, Tenjin Sherpa, also known as Lama, started their record-breaking expedition in late April with a summit of Shishapangma, a 26,335-foot peak in China.
Tenjin, a sherpa for Seven Summit Treks, a Kathmandu-based climbing company, met Harila in March while trekking up Manaslu in the Himalayas.
Despite a language barrier, the pair “understood each other perfectly” and formed a fast bond.
They later ventured into Nepal to conquer Mount Everest before succeeding in the final mountain of their their quest by reaching the top of K2 amid whiteout conditions.
“Lama has been super important and I never would’ve made it without him,” Harila said. “We have been a very good team and I’m so happy we were able to complete the project together.”
Harila, a former cross-country skier, said the 14 climbs were packed with harrowing moments and unexpected weather, including avalanches on Everest.
“You have to stay focused until you’re down,” she said. “Most of the accidents happen on the way down, so when you’re at the summit, you’re only halfway. It’s important to stay focused and do the job that you have to do to get down.”
Harila said conditions were especially brutal on K2, the world’s second highest mountain, which is widely considered by climbers to be the most technically challenging peak in the world.
“We had a very hard and challenging time,” Harila said, citing heavy snowfall and several avalanches during the climb. “It’s the weather and the conditions on the mountain that decides how hard it is.”
Harila “had a pretty rough time” on Kangchenjunga, a 28,169-foot mountain in Nepal she summited without fixed ropes. At one point, she and Lama had to double back after going the wrong way on the mountain and climb up a second time.
The record has, however, not been without controversy.
Harila used helicopters to move between base camps for the climbs, cutting travel time significantly.
She also used oxygen.
Purja, whose record she smashed, is currently attempting to climb the 14 peaks without supplemental air.
His first record was using oxygen.
“To do this, you have to fly,” Harila said. “But we don’t fly above base camp. We fly between the camps because of time.”
Harila said she uses air tanks for safety, noting the so-called “death zone” above 26,000 feet where climbers don’t get enough oxygen in their lungs.
“There’s a little misunderstanding about this,” she said. “If you go and see on the 8,000-meter mountains, more than 90 percent – maybe 95 percent – climb with oxygen.”
Harila quit her job in 2019 to climb full time but now wants to make children her focal point.
She hopes her next adventure will be starting a family with her boyfriend, Jens Kvernmo.
“Get the babies,” she joked. “But not any 8,000-meter mountains for now.”
Harila wants her rapid rise in the climbing community to inspire other women to dream without limits, especially as they’re still seen as “less than” their male counterparts on mountains, she said.
“I feel so, but it’s changing,” Harila said. “It’s going in the right direction and we can see more and more climbing 8,000-meter mountains, but there’s still a way to go for women to get the same sponsorships from the industry as men.”
