
"I have always believed in using the power of speech along with my experiences to inspire others," she said.

She began talking about her experiences and the benefits of mountain climbing, which led to paid public speaking gigs. Perez landed a position with a local guiding company, leading clients up some of the same mountains she had conquered as a teen.
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I felt climbing full time offered more opportunities to grow as a human being, not just economically." "But I realized climbing big mountains meant everything to me. "It was super scary because I felt like I was jumping from a very high place into a pool without knowing how deep it was," she said. She put down the pen and resolved to find a way of turning her passion into a full-time profession.

Great Britain's Alison Hargreaves summited Everest and K2 in 1995, but died descending K2. The 36-year-old became the first woman to successfully climb both Everest and K2 in the same year and just the fourth to reach the summit of both mountains without oxygen. Perez then sat up and gleefully tapped a furled Ecuadorian flag twice against her shoulder. Perez, an Ecuador native who had climbed Everest two months earlier, walked into the waiting embrace of friend Pemba Gelje before dropping to her hands and knees to give thanks and savor one of her biggest dreams. Her boyfriend, Esteban Mena, recorded the moment. Perez, who chose to climb without using supplemental oxygen, flashed a smile while taking her final steps to the top. In 2022, Pérez reached the summit of Makalu without supplemental oxygen.Weather atop K2 was unusually calm and clear in the early afternoon of July 24 as Carla Perez trudged through glistening snow in a final push to the summit of the world's second-highest peak.Īt 28,251 feet, K2 is less than 800 feet shorter than Mount Everest, but its harsher climate, steeper slopes and greater avalanche and rock fall danger make it a more difficult and dangerous climb. In 2021, Pérez climbed on Dhaulagiri but was not able to reach the summit. Alison Hargreaves being the first, in 1995 who climbed unsupported and without supplemental oxygen but tragically died in a storm during descent. In so doing, she became the second woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest and K2 in the same year. In 2019, Pérez became the first woman from the Americas to reach the summit of K2 without supplemental oxygen. In 2019, she successfully guided clients to the summit via the northeast ridge. In 2016, she became the first woman from Latin America to reach the summit without supplemental oxygen.

Pérez has spent time on Mount Everest as both a mountain guide and a climber. In 2015, Pérez reached the summit of Broad Peak without supplemental oxygen. In 2014, Pérez completed a solo ascent of Cho Oyu without supplemental oxygen. In 2012, Pérez reached the summit of Manaslu without supplemental oxygen. When Pérez was four years old her father took her to a 14,000-foot volcano near their home at Quito, Ecuador, which inspired her to become a mountain climber.
