Alison Hargreaves
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 February 1962 Derbyshire, England |
| Died | 13 August 1995 (aged 33) K2, Pakistan |
| Children | Tom Ballard Kate Ballard |
| Climbing career | |
| Type of climber | Mountaineering |
| Known for | First female unaided ascent of Mount Everest, completing the first solo ascents of the six alpine north faces in a single summer season |
Alison Jane Hargreaves (17 February 1962 – 13 August 1995) was a British mountaineer. Her accomplishments included scaling Mount Everest alone, without supplementary oxygen or support from a Sherpa team, in 1995. She soloed all the great north faces of the Alps in a single season—a first for any climber. This feat included climbing the difficult north face of the Eiger in the Alps. Hargreaves also climbed 6,812-metre (22,349 ft) Ama Dablam in Nepal.
In 1995, Hargreaves intended to climb the three highest mountains in the world—Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga—unaided. On 13 May 1995, she became the first woman to reach summit of Everest without the aid of Sherpas or bottled oxygen; on 13 August, she died while descending from the summit of K2.