Mountaineer, Explorer, Author

Vanessa O’Brien is the First Woman to reach earth’s highest and lowest points, a Guinness World Record for summiting Mt. Everest (8,848m) in 2012 and diving in a submersible to the eastern pool of Challenger Deep (10,925m) in 2020.

Vanessa became the first American woman to summit K2 and the first British woman to successfully summit K2 (as a result of her dual nationality) on 28 July 2017, and received the SES Explorer of the Year in 2018 for her efforts. Vanessa proudly raised the UN Women’s Flag at the summit of K2 to show the power of women’s courage and determination.

She received a Guinness World Record for summiting the Seven Summits in 295 days, the fastest time a woman first achieved this goal. She has also skied the Last Degree to the North and South poles, completing the Explorers Grand Slam in 11 months.

Vanessa’s first book, To The Greatest Heights: Facing Danger, Finding Humility, and Climbing a Mountain of Truth, is out now.