Lucy Westlake has conquered the highest mountains on five continents, and she isn’t done yet.
When Lucy Westlake reached the top of the world, she was in disbelief.
“It was so surreal,” she said. “I was telling myself, ‘You did it. You did it. You did it.’”
The USC Price student arrived at Mount Everest’s peak at 5:36 a.m. on May 12, 2022, earning the distinction as the youngest American woman to summit the highest mountain on Earth.
Westlake, 18, has summited the tallest mountains on five of the seven continents, and plans to complete that list. But for now, she is enjoying summer in her hometown of Naperville, Illinois, and looking forward to beginning classes at USC.
Lucy Westlake’s hardest climb
Westlake says Everest wasn’t her most difficult climb. That title goes to Denali – the highest peak in North America – when she was 13.
“That’s the hardest – physically – a mountain has ever been for me,” she said.