In April 2016, Mollie Hughes plans to return to Mount Everest and become the First British Woman to summit from both sides.
In 2012 Mollie became one of the youngest British climbers to summit Mount Everest at the age of just 21. Mollie climbed from Nepal on the south side of the mountain. In Spring 2016 Mollie is planning to return to Mount Everest to attempt to summit from the North side via Tibet.
No British Woman has yet climbed Mount Everest from both of these routes. Therefore, if Mollie is successful in 2016 she will become the first British woman to climb Everest from both sides and also the youngest non Sherpa at the age of just 25.
With your help we need to raise £30,000 to make this goal a reality, help Mollie achieve this record and be part of something special by supporting her mission.
The Mission
In April 2016 Mollie will travel from her home in Edinburgh to Kathmandu, Nepal. From here she will travel overland through Tibet and finally reach Mount Everest basecamp. This is where the challenge will really begin. Over the course of six weeks Mollie will acclimatise on the mountain, this involves travelling to high camps and back down to basecamp again. This process is essential to get her body used to the reduced levels of oxygen on the mountain. When the weather is stable enough and Mollie is acclimatised she will make her summit attempt, leaving basecamp and spending up to seven days on the mountain fighting cold, altitude and exhaustion to achieve her goal.
Climbing Mount Everest from the North will follow the same route that George Mallory and Sandy Irvine attempted before dissappearing close to the summit in 1924. Summiting Everest from the North will present Mollie with many different challenges to the south route. The north route is significantly colder and windier than the south side of the mountain and when climbing from the north Mollie will have to spend more time above 8,000m in what is know as the 'death zone', an altitude so high, life cannot survive for long.
Mollie Hughes
Mollie was born in London in 1990 but grew up on the South coast of Devon, in the small seaside town of Paignton. Growing up in such an outdoorsy place Mollie's passion for adventure grew. At the age of 17 she took part in a school expedition to climb Mount Kenya in East Africa. Mollie quickly became hooked on mountaineering and knew from then that this was going to be something she would do for the rest of her life.
Throughout the remainder of school and university Mollie would save up as much money as possible in the term time by working part time jobs along side her studies. Then, during the summer months, Mollie would head off on an expedition to far flung mountain ranges across the world. Mollie has been lucky enough to climb in the Himalayas of India and Nepal, the Andes of South America, the Atlas mountains of North Africa and closer to home in the European Alps and the mountains of the UK.
Mollie's Everest ambitions materialised when she was in her final year at unversity. Mollie wrote her dissertation on 'the Psychological experience of climbing Mount Everest'. For this project Mollie interviewed seven climbers who had all sucessfully summited Mount Everest. Mollie looked at their motivation, their ability to control fear, their self-belief and the psychological pressure they faced. It must have only been half way through the first interview that Mollie decided that she didn't want to just write about this mountain, she wanted to climb it for herself. Mollie spent the next 12 months sponsorship hunting, climbing and training. Mollie eventually reached the summit of Mount Everest at 8am on the 19th May 2012.
"Mollie is a unique young lady with a genuine passion
for adventure and achievement. I am proud to support
her record attempt on Mount Everest and wish her every
success on the mountain.”
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Media appeal
Mollie’s 2012 Mount Everest expedition attracted international coverage; articles were published The Telegraph, The Sun, The Guardian, The Daily Mail and The Scotman along with the Times of India, The Himalayan voice and Nepal news. Regional news also heavily covered Mollie’s story, she was interviewed for the Bristol Post, The Western morning news and the London Metro.
Mollie also appeared in many popular magazines; mountaineering related magazines, such as Trek and Mountain magazine, Adventure travel magazine, Outside Times and The BMC’s Summit magazine as well as non mountaineering classics such as Stylist magazine and Country Life where Mollie was March 2012 girl of the Frontis page.Since 2012 Mollie has become one of the BBC’s mountaineering expert and has appeared Live on BBC The One Show and frequently gets invited onto BBC Radio 4, BBC Five live, BBC world service.
Mollie also has a large social media following where she shares not only expedition news but training knowledge, public speaking engagements, relevant news articles and the kit she uses in the mountains.
Help us make history
Mollie is still without a headline sponsor for Everest 2016. Therefore, she really needs you to believe in this project, share her infectious passion and pledge your support.
Women are still so greatly underrepresented in adventure and outdoor sports. Completeing this challenge will enable Mollie to inspire women across the UK that they too, can achieve their wildest ambitions.
If you are passionate about mountaineering, have a lust for adventure or hope to see women represented more equally in sport. Help Mollie achieve her goal and be part of something big, 8848m big!
The Rewards
Mollie so greatly appreciates every single pound you pledge. Therefore, she has set up some exciting and exclusive rewards for your kind contributions. Mollie hopes this will help you become an even bigger part of her Mount Everest 2016 expedition.
*Summiting Mount Everest is extremely hazardous. Safety for Mollie and her team will be the overriding consideration when deciding whether or not to make a summit bid. Consequently any rewards which involve summiting cannot be guaranteed.