Allie Pepper: On a mission to climb the highest peaks without additional oxygen

Allie Pepper, an Australian mountaineer with 23 years of climbing experience, is on a mission called ‘The Respect Above the Clouds 14 Peaks No O2.’ In the next two years, she aims to climb 14 of the world’s 8000m mountains without additional oxygen. She embarked on the challenge in July 2023 by climbing Broad Peak without supplemental oxygen and followed it with Manaslu in September of that year. Now, she has 12 more peaks to conquer. She has until the end of July 2025 to complete her goal.

Pepper, originally from the Blue Mountains in Sydney, Australia, got into rock climbing after taking an outdoor leadership course in 1999. She was a dedicated student and ended up becoming an instructor at the Australian School of Mountaineering (ASM). It was during her time at ASM that an instructor recognized her outdoor skills and suggested she go to New Zealand for a technical mountaineering course. This decision, made at the beginning of 2000, turned out to be a life-changing one. 

After completing the technical mountaineering course, she returned to Australia and spent a year doing outdoor leadership training. During that time, ASM offered her the opportunity to organize and sell an expedition to Aconcagua in South America, which is the tallest mountain in America. Despite not knowing much about it, she managed to sell 11 spots for her first high-altitude expedition. Argentina then became her home for three years. In the summers, she was in Aconcagua and during the winters, she went to Peru to guide and climb. After climbing one of the highest mountains in Peru, she felt ready to take on the Himalayas.

In 2007, Cho Oyu was Pepper’s first 8000m mountain ascent. What’s interesting is that she decided not to use additional oxygen. During the climb, her partner had frostbite on eight of his toes so he stayed at the base camp while she continued up the mountain alone. She made the journey to the top and back alone, without a GPS or access to a weather report.

Pepper, 48, says, “When I returned to base camp, no one believed I had reached the top. A Sherpa rushed over, took my camera, and checked my photos.” It was only when they saw the picture of Everest, which is only visible from the summit, that they started celebrating her success. She mentions climbing is about putting faith in her skills and team support.

When she reached the summit of an 8000m peak without using additional oxygen, she got a lot of sponsors pushing her to be the first Australian woman to scale 14 peaks. But she says that’s not her goal. “I want to explore my capabilities, undergo training, and understand who I am when I push myself to the limits.” Her decision to climb 8000m peaks without additional oxygen is driven by her desire to know her capabilities. She isn’t in it for the fame that seems to accompany it.

“I start and end my day with meditation. Every day, I set the intention for my body to recover during sleep so that I wake up feeling refreshed and my muscles aren’t sore. It’s pretty amazing how it works,” she says. She says that in her expeditions she focuses on locking in memories because climbing without oxygen can mess with short-term memory. 

Mountains are rife with risks and challenges at every turn. Pepper talks about the importance of technology, even though it’s not always 100 percent reliable. Drawing from her experience in various mountaineering activities and training, including navigation, ice climbing, rock climbing, skiing, and attending safety courses, she says, “Knowing how to navigate, grasp weather patterns, understand terrain risks, find safe routes and master survival skills are very important for any climber.”

 When she was climbing Manaslu for the first time, bad weather prevented the team from reaching the high camp and she had to use their only emergency oxygen supply to reach the summit. However, she realized later that she hadn’t reached the true summit, just 30 meters further along a precarious ridge. This feeling of incompleteness stayed with her for many years.

 In 2022, she returned to Manaslu but there was an avalanche so the team aborted its attempt. It wasn’t until September 2023 that she ended up at the village at the mountain’s base once again. She remembers pleading with the mountain to let her through since she had prepared for it so hard. In just 17 days, she had reached the summit from Samagaun village. 

Pepper believes in preparing her body before any expedition. She doesn’t just focus on physical training. She also works on her mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. To keep herself physically fit, she follows a nutritious diet and takes supplements and hormones. She trains for at least two to three hours six days a week. She says she has a ‘now or never’ mentality when it comes to turning her dreams into reality. Pepper also gives a lot of credit to her supportive team for lifting her spirits in every tough situation during her journeys. 

“Up in the mountains, your body is kind of running on empty. It’s slow and your heart’s racing so I make sure I eat properly and sleep whenever I can,” she says, emphasizing the importance of rest and taking care of yourself. Stress, she adds, comparing it to a draining workday, is something that can wreak havoc on your physical and mental health. “I try my best to avoid it.”

When it comes to acclimatization in high altitudes, she emphasizes the importance of not hurrying. On rest days, she usually hikes to higher elevations and then returns to sleep. She finds that this approach helps speed up the acclimatization process.

Pepper talks about how climate change affects mountains, specifically causing glaciers to melt. Reflecting on her time climbing and guiding in Peru, she mentions, “Three seasons in a row, I visited the same mountain and every time, the glaciers were an hour’s walk farther away. The mountain route had completely changed and we all noticed it.”

She also shares her concerns about the changing weather in the Himalayas. She feels saddened by the extreme and unpredictable weather in the mountains. According to her, some seasons bring either more snow or no snow at all. “Locals have noted entire winter seasons with no snow, leading to more crevasses on the mountains that now require ladders for crossing,” she says.

Pepper aims to be a role model for people of all ages and backgrounds, showing them they are capable of achieving anything they want. She expresses that it’s never too late to dream big and encourages us to start working towards becoming the best version of ourselves. “We only discover our true potential when we step out of our comfort zone,” she says.