A mum-of-seven has claimed her third world record in mountaineering, becoming the first woman to complete the Second Seven Summits after her son told her to climb “a real mountain”.
Jenn Drummon has become one of only two people in the world to complete the challenge, climbing the second-highest mountains in all seven continents.
These include K2 in Asia, Ojos del Salado in South America, Mount Logan in North America, Gora Dykh-Tau in Europe, Month Kenya in Africa, Mount Tyree in Antarctica and Sumantri in Australia-Oceania.
In the process, Jenn claimed a further two world records, becoming the second female to summit Mount Tyree and the third American female to summit K2.
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“I am overwhelmed with gratitude and disbelief,” the 43-year-old, from Utah, told NeedToKnow.co.uk.
“The climb was done, the pursuit was done, all the hard work, all the setbacks, all the compromises over the years became validated and celebrated, it was all worth it.
“The summit is an accumulation of all the struggles that you continued on through, even when you didn’t want to.
”There are plenty of moments when I was longing for a beach or a hug from my kids, or even just a toilet to sit on when going to the bathroom.”
In 2018, Jenn miraculously survived an almost-fatal car crash, deciding that, from then on, she would live life to the fullest.
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On her 40th birthday, she decided she wanted to climb a mountain, having begun her climbing journey five years prior, ascending Ama Dablam in Nepal.
While training to climb Ama Dablam, Jenn was also home schooling her seven children, Jack (16), Joe (15), Jacob (14), Jonathan (12), Joshua (11), Jana (10) and Julia (10).
She said: “One of my sons was struggling with his math homework, I told him we do hard things, and he looked at me, saying ‘If we do hard things why aren’t you climbing a real mountain like Mt. Everest?’
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“I looked at Everest with him and thought, why not Everest, if this is a ‘real’ mountain to him, maybe I should climb it to reinforce our family motto that we do hard things.”
Jenn immediately hired a coach who gave her the idea of the second seven summits.
She said: “Seven continents, seven mountains, and I had seven kids… So jackpot!”
“I leaned into the idea and here we are 2 1/2 years later with the record set!”
Beginning the expedition in 2020 with Ojos del Salado, Jenn ended her expedition with Mount Logan in Canada, beginning the 19,000 feet climb to the summit on May 18 and returning victorious on 5 June.
Having failed to climb Mount Logan last year due to bad weather, Jenn feared she wouldn’t make it to the summit again, battling the elements the entire way.
She said: “Mt. Logan was the hardest of the mountains for me, just because of the lack of support on the mountain.
“We were stuck in a really bad storm one night that would bury the tent in the snow every three to four hours, and needed to get out of the tent to unbury it.
“This storm was really windy as well so we were ready for the tent to rip and for us to be in the elements without that protection if it did happen which was really nerve-wracking.”
Encouraging their mum all the way, Jenn’s seven kids became her cheerleaders, taking inspiration as their mum lived up to their family motto, “we do hard things”.
She added: “My kids have been my biggest supporters followed closely by family friends and community.
“We are so lucky to be surrounded by people that dare to dream bigger and I can see it in them, it’s the best part of this whole adventure.”
After a well-deserved break, Jenn now plans to write a book sharing everything she has learnt from her expedition, as well as spending some quality time with her kids.
ENDS
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