Junko Tabei’s Trailblazing Triumph: Half a Century of Women Conquering Everest

On May 16, 1975, Japanese climber Junko Tabei shattered mountaineering’s glass ceiling, becoming the first woman to summit Mount Everest. Her ascent, achieved with an all-woman team despite sponsors telling them to “look after their children,” inspired generations of women to follow. Tabei’s determination-surviving an avalanche just weeks before her summit-set a new standard for resilience and ambition. Fifty years later, Everest is poised to see its thousandth female ascent, with women now accounting for 962 of the 12,917 total summits by May 2025. Tabei’s legacy lives on, not just in record books but in the growing sisterhood of climbers breaking barriers worldwide. As Everest’s summit grows more diverse, Tabei’s words still echo: “I do not want to be limited.” Source: AFP, The Independent, Gripped