“I told him, like, when I saw Everest, I said ‘Oh it doesn’t look so high!’”

Welcome everyone to the It Matters To Me Podcast, a show that celebrates the random through 1-on-1 conversations with people and the passions they pursue.

Chances are you’ve probably heard of Mt. Everest and know that summiting it can be the pinnacle of any climber’s career. But did you know that Everest is just one of 14 peaks overall that can boast a staggering height of over 8,000m?

To date, only 44 people can claim to have stood atop all 14 of those peaks and the current record for doing so lies with a Nepali climber who did it in 6 months and 6 days back in 2019.

Enter today’s guest, Kristin Harila, a 36-year-old professional athlete from Norway. A former cross-country skier, Kristin currently runs her own guiding company and leads ski expeditions in the arctic.

In May 2021, she set a world record becoming the fastest woman to climb Everest and Lhotse in less than twelve hours and used that to springboard into trying to claim the 14 peaks title for herself and become the first person from a Scandinavian country to do so.

Unfortunately, that goal was derailed through no fault of her own when her team was unable to secure the necessary permits from the Chinese government but that doesn’t mean she’s given up trying.

From the outset, even though we've never met before, my conversation with Kristin felt like I was catching up with an old friend and I hope you get that same feeling too. She's not just a tremendous athlete but also someone who radiates positivity and kindness. It was an absolute highlight to be able to do this interview and I can't wait to follow her career as it no doubt continues to break records.

So let’s dive right in, here’s my talk with Kristin Harila.

Additional Links

Kristin Harila (Instagram):

https://www.instagram.com/kristin.harila/?hl=en

Kristin Harila (Facebook):

https://www.facebook.com/people/kristin_harila/100063575313015/

Kristin Harila (Bremont):

https://www.bremont.com/pages/kristin-harila

It Matters To Me (Instagram):

https://www.instagram.com/adamcasey/

It Matters To Me (Website):

https://itmatterstomepodcast.com/