Japanese Climber Naoko Watanabe Completes All 14 Peaks Over 8,000 Meters

Naoko Watanabe, 44, reached the 8,027-meter Mount Shishapangma in China in October 2024, completing the list of the world's 14 highest peaks. She had already become the first woman to summit the 8,611-meter K2 three times when she reached its top for the third time in July 2024, an achievement listed by Guinness World Records.

Watanabe began climbing at age three in Onojo City, Japan. She made her first 8,000-meter ascent on Cho Oyu in 2006 while still a student nurse and continued climbing after switching to temporary nursing work in 2009.

She has completed 31 expeditions in the past 20 years.

Her medical training, she said, helps her make quick decisions about weather and health during climbs. Watanabe turned back 150 meters from the Everest summit in 2011 when weather worsened. She reached the summit on a later attempt in 2013.

June she will lead a group of amateur trekkers to Nanga Parbat base camp in Pakistan. Most participants will remain at base camp; Watanabe said the aim is to let climbers move at their own pace and enjoy the scenery. "I’m just an ordinary person who has happened to achieve records while climbing the Himalayas during my vacations," Watanabe told The Associated Press.

" She plans to continue climbing in the Himalayas and said reaching about 100 ascents would be a record in her own style.