Adventure Magazine

SURVIVAL
an impossible
task?
Allie Pepper is an Australian
mountaineer who believes the
biggest challenges offer the greatest
rewards. She has reached the
summits of Mount Everest and also
one of the world’s most dangerous
mountains, Annapurna 1. She
has now set what seems like an
impossible task to climb to the true
summits of all 14 of the worlds
8000m peaks without additional
oxygen, in the world's fastest time.
We caught up with her to find out
what makes her tick and what is
behind the challenge.
allie pepper,
takes on
14 of the
worlds
highest
peaks
Images supplied by Allie Pepper
Hi Allie, tell us about yourself?
I am a 47-year-old mountaineer from the Blue
Mountains of Australia. I discovered climbing in 1999
when I signed up to an Outdoor Recreation course
at a local college. I grew up in Australia’s largest
climbing area but had never rock climbed until then.
With a low self-esteem and no clear direction in my
life at the time I found a career that I enjoyed, and I
was naturally good at.
At the start of 2000, I joined a technical
mountaineering course in New Zealand. That course
changed my life as I finally found my passion.
Later that year I finished my Outdoor Leadership
Certificate. I then worked as an assistant guide on an
expedition to Aconcagua in Argentina. It was the first
time I had the taste of high altitude mountaineering,
and I was addicted. I discovered that I was physically
strong in the thin air and had the ability to look after
others, not just myself.
My mountaineering journey took me from the
Southern Alps of New Zealand to the Andes of South
America. After 3 seasons of climbing and guiding in
the Cordillera Blanca of Peru, I decided I was ready
to climb an 8000m mountain. In 2007 I went to Cho
Oyu, in Tibet. My climbing partner suffered frostnip
on his toes during our acclimatisation phase on
the mountain. He stayed at the Base Camp while I
headed to the summit alone - which I managed to
achieve without the use of additional oxygen.
At the time I had dreams to scale all 14 of the 8000m
mountains however, I did not have the financial
means to do so. I chose Everest to climb next
because I believed if I summited Everest, it might
satisfy me enough that I would not need to climb
anymore 8000ers. It took me 3 years to save up for
that goal. In that time, I did not go to altitude or even
put on a pair of crampons. My dream was to summit
without additional oxygen however I was too slow
on the mountain from my time spent at low altitude.
I spent so long saving up for the expedition, I didn’t
want to waste my time and money. I made the summit
using bottled oxygen and did not fulfil my entire goal.
This only made me hunger more for thin air.
I have been on six expeditions to 8000m peaks since
I summited Everest in 2011. Most recently I climbed
Annapurna 1 in April. After climbing Annapurna, I
realised that high altitude is where my spirit is truly
free, and I am exactly where I am meant to be. I feel
I am at home in the mountains, and I am my true
self. I am at a time in my life where I can give full
commitment to my passion. I now have the desire
and motivation to fulfil my dream and ambition which
started in 2007 after my Cho Oyu expedition.
I aim to summit all 14 peaks without the use of
additional oxygen. I have been training physically,
mentally, and spiritually for this project for years
now. I have learned from my successes, and I have
learned from my failures. Most importantly I have
been honest with myself, and I know that I cannot
reach my full potential in my sport without giving this
a go.
Whilst on the journey to complete my project, I aim
to inspire others that they can dream big too and
they are capable of more than they know. It’s never
too late in life to follow your passion and achieve
big things. The biggest challenges offer the greatest
rewards.
"I realised that
high altitude
is where my
spirit is truly
free, and I am
exactly where
I am meant to
be. I feel I am
at home in the
mountains, and
I am my true
self."
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