Illinois teenager becomes youngest woman to climb greatest peaks in all 50 states

Naperville’s Lucy Westlake climbed into the file guides this 7 days as the youngest feminine to summit the highest point in just about every of America’s 50 states.

On Father’s Day, the 17-12 months-aged and her dad, Rodney Westlake, ascended the ultimate 3,000 toes to the best of Denali, the tallest mountain in Alaska and Lucy’s previous U.S. point out peak to tackle.

A equivalent quest by the father-daughter pair fell small in 2017 when they experienced to abandon their plans when their guides ended up enlisted to be a part of a Countrywide Park Support rescue to preserve climbers missing in whiteout conditions near the leading of mountain.

This climbing time on Denali would be the previous shot for the Naperville North senior to declare the title as the youngest female to climb all 50 point out highpoints.

Preceding title holder Kristen Kelliher was 18 many years, 1 month old when she summited Denali, then termed Mount McKinley, in late May well 2012. Lucy is 7 months younger.

As an alternative of selecting a guide provider as in the past, Lucy and Rodney Westlake opted to trek on their possess and joined up with climbers from Colorado. All but Lucy and her father turned again.

“We started out with 9, but ended with two,” Lucy explained. “It was the two terrifying and thrilling to guide my dad on a rope, just the two of us, 20,310 toes to the summit of Denali. It was the fruits of 10 decades — studying, checking out, and expanding jointly in the mountains.”

Lucy reported when she at last reached the major, she expected far more mountain to pop up. But it failed to.

“It was an amazing experience. It was very surreal staying up there,” she mentioned. “It was an amazing working experience in general it definitely taught me a good deal about myself.”

Accomplishing her target with her father on Father’s Day designed the quest even extra specific.

“Me and my father have constantly been climbing partners,” Lucy explained. “We’ve developed a great deal jointly, not only like mountaineers, but I imagine as individuals far too.

“Men and women refer to us as the dynamic duo. I admit, we make a superior team,” she said.

Lucy claimed the pair labored so tricky and spent so a lot time and work climbing Denali. Concerning the two visits, they invested 40 days residing on a mountain.

“It was incredible staying with him,” Lucy stated. “I could not have completed it with no him, and I will not think he could have accomplished it without the need of me.”

Her fascination in climbing the maximum mountain peaks began in April 2011 when her spouse and children reached the prime of Black Mountain in Kentucky (elevation 4,145 toes). Due to the fact then, her family planned vacations and aspect trips close to her quest.

In July 2016 at age 12, Lucy finished the decreased 48 states with her father when they climbed Wyoming’s Gannett Peak, Montana’s Granite Peak, Idaho’s Borah Peak and Utah’s Kings Peak all inside of a 7 days and a 50 percent.

Lucy was the youngest woman and the two have been the youngest father-daughter group to climb the reduced 48.

Since they’d previously crossed Mauna Kea in Hawaii off the list in February 2016, Lucy and her father had just a person a lot more peak to climb: Denali.

The manual support the Westlake family planned to employ the service of to climb Denali in 2017 mentioned they would only agree to acquire Lucy if she could establish she could face up to elevations larger than 18,500 ft.

In order to verify she could, Lucy and her father climbed the 19,341-toes peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, shelling out seven times and six evenings on the journey up and back again.

Keliher reported she was impressed by Lucy’s tenacity and perseverance.

“Denali is not a mountain to be taken evenly and you want a best blend of physical health and fitness, mental fortitude, time, revenue, and a great weather conditions window,” she reported. “It ought to have taken an remarkable volume of resolve on her element to even want to try out all over again and I am optimistic that mindset will choose her far.”

How long Lucy’s history will stand is anyone’s guess, but “I hope her story evokes other youthful athletes to get exterior and problem themselves and probably share that with their loved ones as that was integral to my highpointing working experience,” Keliher mentioned.

“Data are meant to be broken but if or when a person does break her file I hope she realizes it is nonetheless a fairly incredible accomplishment,” she mentioned.

Lucy didn’t have a lot time to relish the excitement of climbing Denali.

As shortly as she was off the mountain, Lucy was in Eugene, Oregon, for the U.S. Olympic workforce trials for observe and subject as a teen journalist.

A runner and triathlete, Lucy reported she’s a single of 20 college students covering the trials.

In the past few several years, Lucy has checked two more highest continent peaks off her checklist: Aconcagua in South The us in January 2018 and Elbrus in Europe in June 2019.

When she went to New South Wales in Australia in January 2020 to climb Mount Kosciuszko, wildfires prevented her from obtaining shut to the mountain.

Besides Australia, that leaves Mount Vison in Antarctica and Mount Everest in Asia.

Even though finishing the seven summits are on the horizon, Lucy mentioned she’ll be expending the future couple months concentrating her energy on implementing to schools.

Lucy said she imagined she understood what pushing her overall body and head to its restrict felt like, until eventually that working day on Denali, when she recognized there are no limits. “There is certainly so much more inside by yourself than you can ever imagine,” she said.

“It will take an unbelievable amount of money of determination to situation yourself for the prospect. Then it will come down to creating the right selection at the correct second. And there is incredibly minimal home for error,” Lucy stated.