Vanessa O’Brien

Vanessa O’Brien is a British-American mountain climber, explorer, public speaker and former business executive. As a result of her dual nationality, she simultaneously became the first American woman and the first British woman to summit K2 on July 28, 2017 when, on her third attempt, she led a team of 12 members to the summit and back. In 2020, Vanessa received a Guinness World Record for becoming the First Woman to Reach Earth’s Highest (Mt. Everest) and Lowest Points (Challenger Deep). She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and an Honorary Advisory Board member of the Scientific and Exploration Society.