MOUNT EVEREST — She’s on top of the world, literally. Park City mom of seven Jenn Drummond has successfully summited Mount Everest as part of her training to become the first woman in history to summit the “Second Seven.”
“I MADE IT,” she posted on Instagram on Tuesday.
“We successfully summited Everest! Even with 45 MPH winds at the top I had to make sure my kids were there with me. WiFi here isn’t the best right now so I’m only able to share this for now. I can’t wait to share more.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone for all of your support, it truly lifted me up in the most difficult times and with every step I felt all of your love, energy, and support.”
Tim Hughes caught up with Drummond over the weekend, before her push to the summit and after bad weather delayed their original plans.
“We are back up at Basecamp. We returned here last week Friday via helicopter. It was nice to be back and see all the Sherpas in the cook staff and the porters and everybody, [but] spirits are high.
“We originally were planning on going and trying to summit on the 21st and the 22nd. But the weather closed in on us. And then some of the teams that are up on the mountain right now have been stuck up there a few days and I’ve had to send Sherpas down to get food to replenish their stocks up on the mountain.”
She also shared some sad news from the mountain.
“We had our first Sherpa passing on May 18, which was pretty devastating. The weather was really bad. He was descending from camp Two to camp one. It is said that he unclipped to use the restroom, fell into the crevasse that took them three hours to get him out.
“He did not die on impact, but died because of injuries and they couldn’t get them out in time. A Helicopter came up and recovered the body, and so that’s been hard for everybody to take in.
“He was related to one of the Sherpas on our team who had three small children. So it just puts that perspective of the mountain into place with we’re doing extreme activities that have extreme rewards, but also extreme consequences.”
“The mental game for this expedition has definitely been challenging. The continuous weights and just uncertainties with the weather has been hard.
“But we keep just fast forward and saying okay, three weeks from now, we’re going to be at the top of this mountain and have a summit and then be on our way home. So whenever it gets a little difficult, I just fast forward to what I will be feeling three weeks from now looking back on today. And that helps me stay focused,” she said.
She also said that the support from her family and the community has been a blessing too.
“Also, my kids are super excited. And they’re like, ‘Come on, mom, just keep climbing you’re going to get there!’ They don’t quite understand that I’m not climbing this entire time, and I’m waiting to climb. But it works!”
And work it did. Drummond made it to the summit on Monday and aims to be back down to Base Camp by Thursday.
The Second Seven
Everest may be the tallest mountain in the world, but it isn’t the pinnacle of Drummond’s goals. She’s working her way to becoming the first woman in history and the third person ever to summit the second tallest peaks on each continent.
So far Drummond has already summited Ojos Del Salado in South America (last December) and Mount Kenya in Africa (in February).
Drummond told KSL Newsradio in March that this Everest climb is actually just a training climb for her goal to reach the top of Everest’s neighbor K2. It’s a more difficult and challenging climb, even though K2 is 656 feet shorter than Everest.
After K2 Drummond said she’ll go next to Gora Dykh-Tau in Russia, Mt. Tyree in Antarctica, Mt. Logan in Canada, and Mt. Townsend in Australia.
Drummond said that the goal of this big and bold adventure is to show others that they can accomplish big things, no matter what the goal looks like. Her mantra? “Bold, Brave, Beautiful.”
“I think my biggest point that I’m trying to get across is that this isn’t about me, I’m just one person doing this. When we hang out with people that eat healthy it inspires us to eat healthy. When we’re hanging out with people who are positive and going after their goals, it allows us to see that in ourselves,” Drummond said.
“I’m doing this as a platform for my children and for everyone else. Yeah I’m a mom, and I have long blonde hair, but I still do these things out in the mountains. So my whole purpose is — this is what lights me up, I’m so excited about it and I want to share it. Please join in and share what you’re doing so I can be a cheerleader for you too.
“For me, climbing mountains is this visible, tangible thing that works. But we all have mountains that we have to climb, we all have boldness that we need to live or bravery that we have to step into, and all our journeys are beautiful.”
Watch a report on Jenn Drummond from our news partners at KSL 5 TV, here.
More about Jenn Drummond and the Second Seven:
Heart of Utah: Utah mom on track to become first woman to climb the “Second Seven”
Park City mom Jenn Drummond eyes Everest Summit as training run for ‘Second Seven’
