Lei Wang, WG’03, who was featured in our spring issue for her efforts to tackle the 7 + 2 Challenge—that is, climbing the highest mountain on each continent and skiing to both the North and South poles—has finally completed her journey.
On Monday morning, staff from International Mountain Guides reported that Wang, five other climbers and four sherpas had successfully summited 29,035-feet-tall Mt. Everest. By reaching the top, Wang became just the second woman in history, and the first Chinese woman, to pull off the 7 + 2.
Later Monday afternoon, IMG also reported that the climbers had safely descended back to camp. All were in good health.
Before coming to Wharton, Wang said her only climbing experience had been hiking up Xiang Shan, a small hill in her native Beijing. In 2003, though, Wang took part in a Wharton Leadership Venture trip to the Cotopaxi volcano in the Andes Mountains. That climbing adventure, Wang said, was transformative—and ultimately led her down the path that ended, after seven long years, atop mighty Everest.
