Carla Pérez (born 28 December 1982) is an

Ecuadorian Ecuadorians ( es, ecuatorianos) are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collect ...

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

. In 2019 she became the first woman to successfully summit both

Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heigh ...

and K2 in the same year (in 1995

Alison Hargreaves Alison Jane Hargreaves (17 February 1962 – 13 August 1995) was a British mountain climber. Her accomplishments included scaling Mount Everest alone, without supplementary oxygen or support from a Sherpa team, in 1995. She soloed all the great ...

reached both summits unsupported and without supplemental oxygen but died descending K2), and the first woman from the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

to summit K2 without supplemental oxygen.

Early life

When Pérez was four years old her father took her to a 14,000-foot volcano near their home at

Quito, Ecuador Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley on ...

, which inspired her to become a

mountain climber Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, ...

Notable climbs

Manaslu

In 2012, Pérez reached the summit of

Manaslu Manaslu ( ne, मनास्लु, also known as Kutang; muh-NAA-slu) is the eighth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in the west-central part of Nepal. The name Mana ...

without supplemental oxygen.

Cho Oyu

In 2014, Pérez completed a solo ascent of

Cho Oyu __NOTOC__ Cho Oyu (Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the ''Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur ...

without supplemental oxygen.

Broad Peak

In 2015, Pérez reached the summit of

Broad Peak Broad Peak ( ur, ) is a mountain in the Karakoram on the border of Pakistan and China, the twelfth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It was first ascended in June 1957 by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, an ...

without supplemental oxygen.

Mount Everest

Pérez has spent time on

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

as both a mountain guide and a climber. In 2016, she became the first woman from

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

to reach the summit without supplemental oxygen. In 2019, she successfully guided clients to the summit via the northeast ridge.

K2

In 2019, Pérez became the first woman from the Americas to reach the summit of K2 without supplemental oxygen. In so doing, she became the second woman to reach the summit of

and K2 in the same year. Alison Hargreaves being the first, in 1995 who climbed unsupported and without supplemental oxygen but tragically died in a storm during descent.

Dhaulagiri

In 2021, Pérez climbed on

Dhaulagiri Dhaulagiri is the seventh highest mountain in the world at above sea level, and the highest mountain within the borders of a single country (Nepal). It was first climbed on 13 May 1960 by a Swiss-Austrian-Nepali expedition. Annapurna I () is ...

but was not able to reach the summit.

Makalu

In 2022, Pérez reached the summit of

Makalu Makalu ( ne, मकालु हिमाल, Makālu himāl; zh, t=馬卡魯峰, p=Mǎkǎlǔ fēng) is the fifth highest mountain in the world at . It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas southeast of Mount Everest, in Nepal. One of th ...

without supplemental oxygen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pérez, Carla 1982 births Living people Ecuadorian mountain climbers Summiters of Mount Everest Ecuadorian female climbers