LEBANON, N.H. (May 5, 2023) – Kristin Harila, the Norwegian XC skier-turned-mountaineer extraordinaire and Global Rescue Mountain Advisory Council member became the fastest woman to climb all 14 mountains above 8000 meters this week after summiting Cho Oyu. Harila topped the previous record set by Spanish climber Edurne Pasaban in 2010.

“Congratulations to Harila and her ongoing achievements in mountaineering. Her record-breaking history of hard work, perseverance, sacrifice, talent and love of mountaineering is an example for all of us. She is an extraordinarily gifted, focused and spirited athlete and will undoubtedly continue to set new records and bring about fresh innovations to a fast-growing sport,” said Dan Richards, the CEO of The Global Rescue Companies, which has provided Harila with field rescue and medical evacuation protection since 2021.

Harila has a bigger record-breaking plan on her mind. In the spring of 2022, she set out to climb all 14 of the world’s 8,000 meter (26,247 feet) and higher peaks in less than 189 days – and breaking the record held by Nims Purja, a Global Rescue Mountain Advisory Council member. Harila was six months in and two summits away from making history when the Chinese government’s strict zero-COVID policy forced her to stop.

Undaunted, Harila set out in April 2023 for her second attempt to break the speed record. This time she started her attempt in Tibet to mitigate the risk of a repeat of last year’s issues with the Chinese government. Her recent Cho Oyu summit and her April 26th summit of Shishapangma complete Harila’s climbs in Tibet, an autonomous region of China. Harila will now attempt to climb the remaining 12 mountains before the end of October 2023.

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For more information contact Bill McIntyre at bmcintyre@globalrescue.com or +1 (202) 560.1195.

About Global Rescue   
The Global Rescue Companies are the world’s leading provider of medical, security, evacuation and travel risk management services to enterprises, governments and individuals. Founded in 2004, Global Rescue has exclusive relationships with the Johns Hopkins Emergency Medicine Division of Special Operations and Elite Medical Group. Global Rescue provides best-in-class services that identify, monitor and respond to client medical and security crises. Global Rescue has provided medical and security support to its clients, including Fortune 500 companies, governments and academic institutions, during every globally significant crisis of the last two decades. For more information, visit www.globalrescue.com.