Sophia Danenberg became the first black woman to climb to the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world:

“I wanted to achieve a personal goal and went down in history!”

She’d been training on some hard terrain in preparation (Switzerland, Tanzania, Argentina) before heading to Everest.

On May 19, 2006 at 7 am, amidst bronchitis and a menacing storm, she managed to reach the 29,029-foot peak.

In spite of the adverse weather and the warnings, she went ahead, at the peak the clouds were sparking!

Her speech and story is a real motivator and her “TEDxUChicago: Hopes And Dreams Are Overrated” is a must watch

Although Danenberg, continues to climb she has not returned to Nepal since 2013, she climbs locally in Washington State but with plans to soon return to climbing higher again!