Kristin Harila (born 28 March 1986)[7] is a Norwegian-Northern Saami[8][9][10]mountaineer and former cross-country skier. During 2022–2023, she set multiple speed records for the ascent of all 14 eight-thousanders, which are the peaks in the world that are over 8,000 metres in elevation.[11][12]
Climbing career
In May 2021, Harila set a world record Fastest double-header of the Higher Eightthousanders by a woman becoming the fastest woman to climb Mount Everest and Lhotse in under twelve hours. On 22 May 2022, she beat her own record when she crossed from the top of Mount Everest to the top of Lhotse in nine hours, five minutes.[13] Her success in previous expeditions and summit attempts inspired her to embark in 2022 upon her latest challenge, "Bremont 14 Peaks", and become the first woman in history, and the second person after Nirmal Purja, to climb all 14 eight-thousander peaks in six months. She came close to beating Purja's record time for climbing all 14 eight-thousanders in a season with only two peaks missing. However, when the Chinese authorities refused her permits to climb Cho Oyu and Shishapangma, her record hunt ended at that point.[12]
On 3 May 2023, Harila achieved her goal of reaching all 14 true geographic summits of the eight-thousanders, after one year and five days, which is a world record Fastest true-summit ascent of the 8,000ers, regardless of gender.[14][15]
On 27 July 2023, Harila and Tenjen Sherpa, her guide from Seven Summit Treks,[16] established a new record summiting all 14 true geographic summits in just 92 days.[7][17][1][18][2] In the process, Kristin and Tenjen broke multiple records, including 26 eight-thousander summits in one year and three months and also the fastest Everest and Lhotse summits by a female, in eight hours.[5][6] They used helicopters to move between base camps and added supplemental oxygen.[12] In 2023 project she planned to scale the mountains without supplemental oxygen. But later, she had to use oxygen cylinders because of safety issues.[7][17]
The expenses for her team in regard to her world record, was Norwegian kroner 15 million.[19]
Controversy over Muhammad Hassan's death
Following her ascent of K2, which completed a record-breaking climb of all 14 true geographic peaks in just 92 days, controversy erupted over the death of a Pakistani high-altitude porter, 27-year-old Muhammad Hassan[20] in a dangerous passage at K2 known as the Bottleneck.[21] Hassan was assigned to a rope fixing team working in the Bottleneck, at an altitude of about 8,200 m (26,900 ft),[22] though he was not wearing a down suit or carrying supplemental oxygen.[23][24] According to Harila, her team found Hassan tangled in his rope after falling from the pass around 2:15am.
According to Harila, her team worked for 90 minutes to pull Hassan back onto the path, after which Harila left to assist her team who were caught in an avalanche further up. Harila's cameraman stayed with the injured porter and shared his oxygen for another hour before his own supply ran low and he was forced to rejoin the team.[20][25][26][27] This version of the events has been questioned by climbers who was present on K2 that day, one saying that it's not even possible to be there for that long at this altitude, also pointing to the fact that Harila and her team did not descend or start a rescue mission but prioritised reaching the peak.[28] A video published in the days after Harila's ascent showed unidentified climbers walking over Hassan as he lay on the ledge,[29] leading critics to accuse Harila of leaving Hassan to die in pursuit of her world record.[25] Harila denied the allegations and called the release of the video "insensitive",[25] while an official with the Gilgit-Baltistan local government observed that no rescue was possible due to poor weather conditions.[30]
Authorities in Gilgit-Baltistan subsequently launched an investigation into Hassan's death.[26][20] The investigation was completed in September 2023, which led to Lela Peak Expeditions, Hassan's employer, being banned from managing teams in Gilgit-Baltistan for the next two years. The ban came as a result of not providing a porter with adequate equipment, hiring an inexperienced porter to go up the mountain, and not insuring him.[31]
Other activities
As a cross-country skier, Harila placed 24th and 25th in the Norwegian championships in 2006. She represented the club IL Polarstjernen.[11]
Harila started the Lama Sherpa Foundation to honor Tenjen "Lama" Sherpa who went missing during an avalanche on Shishapangma on 7 October 2023. The foundation aims to bring awareness and resources to sherpas, porters, guides, cooks and other workers in the Himalayas that work on mountaineering expeditions.[32]
^Anti, Kila (24 May 2023). "Váiban, muhto buori movttas" [Tired, but in good spirits]. Ávvir (in Northern Sami). Retrieved 30 June 2024. Kristin Harila levge sihke Norgga ja Sámi leavggain go olaha várrečohkaide. Sutnje lea dehálaš čájehit olles máilbmái ahte lea sápmelaš. [Kristin Harila flies both the Norwegian and Saami flags when she reaches the mountain peaks. It is important for her to show the whole world that she is Saami.]
