Australian climber Allie Pepper’s quest to summit world’s 14 highest peaks

After overcoming her doubts and selling her Blue Mountains family home, Aussie climber Allie Pepper is on a quest to summit the world’s highest 14 peaks in a shorter time than anyone has before — and be the first women to do it.

There aren’t many records Aussie mountain climber Allie Pepper hasn’t smashed on her way up the world’s highest and most dangerous peaks – which she does respectfully, of course.

She’s the first Australian woman to summit Makalu, Manaslu, Annapurna I and Broad Peak in the Himalayas to their summits, without supplementary oxygen.

She’s the first Australian woman to summit two 8000m+ peaks to their true summits in one season – again, without supplementary oxygen.

She’s reached the highest altitude of any Australian woman without supplementary oxygen – 8485m – which was her summit of Makalu. In fact, she’s reached the most 8000m summits without extra oxygen of any Aussie woman. And she’s climbed Mount Everest.

Her next goal is to reach the top of the world’s 14 peaks over 8000m – without extra oxygen – in the space of two years. The only people who have done that, worldwide, are two men – and it took them 16 years.

Australian mountaineer Allie Pepper at press conference in Kathmandu on March 9, 2024. Picture: AFP

Of the 14 on her list, Pepper, 49, has climbed four in the past year. The Blue Mountains woman has 10 peaks and one year to go.

And the most remarkable thing is, despite all she’s achieved, it’s likely you’ve never heard of her. But that’s all about to change.

“There is always some risk in life – and I don’t go to the mountain to die, I go to be alive,” Pepper tells Sydney Weekend from Kathmandu where she was recovering from an injury – her left eye froze while she was climbing Annapurna. Yes - it froze.

“I go with the experience from my 24 years of climbing and guiding at high altitude.

“I know my body and most importantly I have a strong mindset. I don’t climb full of fear – I focus on living in the moment and dealing with situations as they arise in the now.

“I don’t want fear to rule my life and stop me living my dreams. We grow so much when we face our fears … joy comes from discovering I am capable of way more than I thought was possible.”

Pepper with her partner, climbing partner and sherpa Mikel.

She says reaching such peaks brings a mix of joy and the sense of achievement from knowing she gave it her all.

“If I can do this, I can inspire others to not be afraid to live their dreams too, whatever they may be,” Pepper explains.

“That with one step at a time they can get there. As humans we are capable of way more than we think we are, and I want to show that.

“We all have mental mountains that are not easy to overcome – but they’re worth it.”

Pepper’s mental mountains have been immense over her near five decades. Growing up at the foot of the beautiful Blue Mountains in Wentworth Falls, she had no idea climbing was an option for her, and it took a journey of self discovery to find that in fact, it made her who she was.

She first started climbing at 23, by accident, really. She loved it. And she was good at it. So good, she continued pushing, striving, succeeding. But you can’t reach highs without the lows – and she’s had plenty of those too.

Pepper as a schoolgirl growing up in NSW’s Blue Mountains.

Pepper and Mikel.

“I don’t conquer mountains – mountains allow me to summit them when I climb them with respect … but it’s a long process,” she says.

“When I was younger, I failed my HSC. I never went to uni, I never knew what career I wanted to do, so I just had casual jobs.

“And I had low self esteem because I didn’t really know what I wanted to be – I went to India and Nepal in 1997, trying to find myself.

“I went all over the place – to these ashrams and gurus – and at one point, I did go to the Annapurna region, and we trekked to this village in the clouds, and I woke up in the night and I walked outside – and there was a huge mountain, with the spindrift coming off the top, and I just remember thinking – people must just be so crazy to stand on top of these mountains, that’s just ridiculous,” she laughs.

“And when I went back to Australia, I didn’t find myself. I wanted to do a course … so I went to TAFE and looked at all the brochures...and I just saw one brochure and I read it wrong … it said ‘outdoor re-creation’ in my mind.

“And I was like, well, I want to recreate myself … and I love the outdoors.

Allie Pepper with her climbing partner and life partner, Mikel.

“And that’s when I learned that where I grew up had all these amazing things – I didn’t know about rock climbing, I didn’t know about canyoning – until I did that course. And I was really good at it. I ended up being top of the class and started working guiding in the outdoor industry, and I climbed my first mountain.”

That first mountain changed her life. The higher she climbed, the more respect she had for the harsh environment. She grounded herself by the more learned people around her – and began to understand how to trust her intuition and soon, experience, to keep her safe.

“Each mountain is different, but there is always relief that I no longer have to keep climbing up,” she admits.

“On Annapurna in April I cried. I was overwhelmed that I made it without oxygen because in 2022 I ended up using oxygen from 7800m and summited in a blizzard.

Pepper climbing Mt Earnslaw in New Zealand in 2005.

“This time I had amazing views over the Himalayas. I was so grateful as it was a very cold summit push and I could not see properly out of one eye as my cornea froze.

“On top of Makalu I wasn’t so emotional as I was so physically exhausted from 20 hours of climbing – I don’t remember that vividly … what it was like due to the lack of oxygen at 8485m.

“I have been close to avalanches on Annapurna and Broad Peak. I have been caught out in blizzards and lightning storms above 8000m.

“There have been many times that I have thought I might not survive.

“In all these situations I have managed to make the right decisions and stay alive.”

She recalls finding it so hard to breathe at such altitude she had to try and hyperventilate so she didn’t pass out. But apart from the physical strength Pepper needs to get to the top – and yes, she trains six days a week – mental toughness is a big part of the battle.

For that, she’s got a mindset coach who, for the past year and a half, has helped her re-wire her brain.

Pepper aims to climb all 14 of the world's mountains that are higher than 8000m without the use of additional oxygen in 2 years, the world's fastest time.

“In terms of training, it doesn’t matter how fit you are if your mind is not strong,” she says.

“You can be the fittest person in the world, and get there and it’s so hard, with so much suffering and it’s so cold – and a million other things that you can turn around.

“I haven’t trained to be like a soldier in war, per se – as in, I want to die for my goal – no.

“I’ve trained to use my intuition very well, and speak to the highest version of myself, in my mind – easily – and that’s taken time, don’t get me wrong.

“That’s not an easy process – but it’s so I can ensure in these situations, I (can) take the next step, whatever that is.”

Pepper is now happily back on home soil to drum upsponsors and visit family and friends. Then it’s back on the journey of ticking off her goals, one peak at a time.

It may depend on funding, circumstance, weather – but in an ideal world, next up is Pakistan in July, for Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II and K2.

In September and October she hopes to do China’s Shishapangma – the 14th highest mountain in the world – and Cho Oyu – the sixth highest.

Next year she will be back in Nepal for Dhaulagiri, then in April and May will go for Lhotse, Everest and Kanchenjunga.

In June, the last of the 14 will be Pakistan’s Nanga Parbat.

So, the big question – can she do it? You bloody bet she can.

“I don’t think there’s any point in any goal having anything else but 100 per cent belief,” she says.

“And that is part of the whole thing about your mind as well – to train yourself to not attach to the doubt or the negative thoughts and maintain a positive believing mindset.

“It doesn’t matter what it is – if it’s your 20km or full marathon, or losing weight, or overcoming a divorce, or menopause – with any of these things, there is zero benefit to not believing that you can get through it, right?

Pepper says she doesn’t conquer mountains - they allow her to climb them.

“So when we rid ourselves of our limiting beliefs, essentially – which is the journey – that’s the biggest mountain.

“That’s bigger than climbing Everest without oxygen. Honestly, I know because I’ve been there.

“I’ve been through a lot to get to the point where I am now. But when we do face our limiting beliefs and why we have them, we’re able to believe in ourselves and love ourselves and know that we are worthy of our dream.

“And that we’re enough.

“So for me, I don’t carry a lingering doubt.

“I’m not saying I don’t ever have doubtful thoughts in my mind – but in terms of my mind, I recognise them – and I just let them go.”

Practising mindfulness helps … gratitude … meditation … celebrating the wins … it all helps.

Just a few weeks ago Pepper was given a badge during celebrations on Sagarmatha Day – Sagarmatha is the Nepali name for Everest – for summiting Everest.

“Four foreigners received badges on the day that were awarded by the Prime Minister – this is the first year that foreigners have received awards at the ceremony,” Pepper says.

“It’s important for me – with my life coach – to celebrate, because I spend so much time working ‘within’ and my whole world has changed on the outside because of that.

Pepper admits struggling with joint pain during menopause and thinking she wouldn’t climb again.

“(So I) stop every now and then to celebrate how far I’ve come – because prior to starting that inner journey for the last year and a half, honestly, I was in a pretty negative place.

“I’ve gone through a horrendous menopause – and that was a journey in itself, to be honest. And then a divorce. I was just at the point in my life where I was just … questioning.

“I didn’t love myself; I didn’t understand why I didn’t believe in myself. I had this goal and this dream – and I just honestly didn’t think I was worthy of it. That I was enough. I didn’t think I was good enough.

“It didn’t even matter what I did – even if I looked back and go: ‘well, I climbed this, I climbed that; I got through menopause – I found the treatment; I got through my divorce’.

“Obviously, I’m still here, I’m still going.

“But regardless, I hadn’t been on that inner journey to discover why I didn’t believe I was enough to live my dream.”

She says most people would call it a midlife crisis – a low point in life – which unfortunately for women usually coincides with the menopause journey.

“Maybe society just thinks that’s the end for us, especially as women, to be honest,” she says.

“And growing up in a society, where for the woman – it’s hard. To go through menopause, to go through all these symptoms, to go through all the hormones, all the changes, have the depression, all this shit – and so many women would be almost at the peak of their career and then stop because they can’t do it.

Pepper, with Mikel, says after meeting a life coach she had a spiritual awakening.

“Honestly – at that point I didn’t think I could climb again, because I was in so much joint pain … I didn’t have energy.

“It didn’t matter what I ate, I couldn’t recover properly. So (I’m) going through this journey, remembering who I am, and just getting to the point where I had to do something about it.

“I did a meditation course and started to learn to trust my intuition again, and tap into that part of myself – and that just escalated a chain of events.

“I ended up meeting my life coach – and there’s no other way of putting it except I had a spiritual awakening.

“I spent almost four days without eating – like a yogi – in this state of bliss – and finally, I found who I am.

“And I was looking everywhere when I was younger, outside myself – and finally, I realised it’s all in me.

“We can truly do anything.

“Just discovering that, is what kicked off the shedding of all of the layers and realising – OK, I can do this.”

She sold her family home in the Blue Mountains to make her dream a reality. She’s also looking for sponsors and donors to help her get there.

Pepper at a press conferenced with her guide, Nepalese mountaineer Ming Temba Sherpa, in Kathmandu. Picture: AFP

And the whole epic adventure is being filmed by renowned filmmaker and executive producer Anthony Gordon, together with fellow passionate filmmaker and Blue Mountains local, Sammy Zammit, from Thin Air Productions.

Respect Above The Clouds will be a documentary that takes viewers behind the scenes to Pepper’s highest peaks – and also reveal pilot episode The Highest Love Story Ever Told – highlighting Pepper’s loving relationship with Mikel, her sherpa and climbing partner.

As the title suggests, Respect Above the Clouds seeks to pay homage to the original custodians of the land on which she climbs, and aims to inspire people of all ages and walks of life to dream big and take steps towards becoming the best version of themselves.

“We just understand each other and trust each other,” she says of Mikel, who has been climbing and guiding people on 8000-ers since 2008 – he’s now done so 24 times.

“He’s been on twice the amount of expeditions because the client doesn’t always summit. So he has so much experience, and I trust him. But he also trusts me.

“The whole point behind any project that I have, is to show what’s possible as a middle-aged woman who has gone through menopause and a divorce and honestly didn’t want to live – and that we all have the capability to overcome obstacles, whatever they are.

“It’s never too late in our life” ■

For more information or to sponsor Pepper and her expeditions, visit alliepepper.com