Elite Climber Kristin Harila Launches the Lama Sherpa Foundation

Elite mountaineer Kristin Harila crushes 8,000-meter peaks. Climbing the ‘eight-thousanders’ constitutes the ultimate achievement in mountaineering. Fourteen mountains in the world rise above 8,000-meters (26,247 feet). All 14 of the 8,000-meters reside in the Himalayan and Karakorum mountain ranges in Asia and reach into the rarefied and dangerous strata known as the ‘Death Zone’. Legendary Italian climber, Reinhold Messner, became the first person to complete scaling all of these prestigious mountains in 1986. His historic feat, chased by ambitious mountaineers ever since, set the high-water mark in mountaineering success. Harila raised that mark with a series of impressive speed records on the eight-thousanders over the past several years. Harila, 38, a Norwegian-Northern Saami (the indigenous people of northern Norway), climbs fast. After setting a record for the fastest double-header of two eight-thousanders by a woman in 2021on Mt. Everest and Lhotse in under twelve hours, she beat her own record in 20