PRLog (Press Release) - May 28, 2009 -
It was one year ago this week Laura Mallory, at age 20, made history by reaching the top of Mt. Everest and standing on top of the world.
“It feels really good to be the youngest Canadian female to make it to the top,” she says. “One of the best things that has come out of this opportunity is the chance to inspire fellow young people, and other women.”
Laura and her outdoorsy family were sitting around their breakfast table in Utopia thinking about what they could do together for fun before the three young people went off to university. Their decision and commitment to each other: Father Dan and at least one other member of the family would climb the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.
Prior to the successful Everest climb – the highest mountain in Asia and in the world, five of the seven had been reached, with Laura scaling Mt. Elbrus in Russia – the highest mountain in Europe, and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the highest peak in Africa.
In Nepal, Laura’s two brothers and father reached the top the day before her. Feeling sick and vomiting blood, she opted to stay at the highest camp in the “Death Zone” to recuperate. She set off with her guides the next day in her own successful bid. Mother Barbara had to beg off the attempt altogether after an injury sustained in an earlier acclimatization climb left her with a torn Achilles tendon and calf muscle.
With many people interested in the challenges and successes this family has faced, the Mallorys have become highly popular motivational speakers, both individually and as a whole.
An adrenaline-loving nursing student, Laura enjoys these opportunities to inspire other young people to reach for their own goals.
“I don’t think it has really changed my life at all, but it has changed the impact I am able to have on others,” says Laura. “I think that is the greatest reward.”
Plans to tackle Mt. Vinson in Antarctica - the one remaining mountain in the family’s lofty goal – are underway.
“My family and I are excited and looking forward to reaching our seventh summit,” says Dan Mallory. “This was a dream that began a long time ago, and is coming to fruition.
“We are currently in the planning stages where financing and research are key. We are actively looking for sponsors and we hope to be able to make this climb in late 2009, or early 2010.”
