Amanda Ramsden
M
andy Ramsden, a 40 year old single mother of 4 who hails from Johannesburg, has become the first African woman to climb the 'seven summits' - the highest peaks on the world's 7 continents.
Ramsden completed this challenge when she reached the top of Everest (8 850m above sea level) on Sunday morning.
She had previously sumitted
- Mount Kilimanjaro - Africa - 2006
- Elbres - Europe - 2006
- Aconcagua - South America - 2006
- Carstensz Pyramid - Australasia - 2007
- Denali - North America - 2008
- Vinson Massif - Antartica - 2009
At the time of writing, Ramsden is still on the mountain and reached Base Camp yesterday morning (Monday 24 May 2010)
Lewis Pugh
Not too far away, another South African, Lewis Pugh became the first person to do a long-distance swim in a glacial lake near Mount Everest this past weekend.
Pugh took 22 minutes and 51 seconds to swim one km in waters of 2 deg C in Pumori Lake which is located alongside the Khumba Glacier. The lake is at an altitude of 5300m.
He was only wearing a swimming costume, goggles and a cap. Afterwards, he told the press that it was one of the hardest swims he'd ever undertaken.
He has previously swum in Antartica and across the North Pole.
Congratulations to these two shining examples of South Africans at their toughest and most determined.
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