Climbing
Meet Margarita Moreno, a 39-year-old underground climber from Bogotá, Colombia. Moreno summited Earth’s Seven Summits, achieving this feat without major sponsorship, an extremely rare accomplishment that demonstrates her raw passion, love, and dedication to the sport. Ever since 2018, Moreno has been silently climbing the seven highest mountains on the planet, starting with Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and most recently completing the challenge with Mount Everest in Nepal. Moreno’s accomplishment shows that you do not need sponsorships to climb mountains; all you need is hustle, hard work, grit, and financial stability. According to an interview with Moreno done by @dinersrevista on Instagram, Moreno is a hard-working Industrial Designer, financing many of her climbs through hard work and long shifts, which eventually pay off at the summit of each mountain.
So, what are the Seven Summits, and what makes them such a difficult task? The Seven Summits are an extremely difficult challenge where one must climb the highest mountain in each continent of the Earth, these being: Kilimanjaro (Africa), Denali (North America), Elbrus (Europe), Aconcagua (South America), Mount Vinson Massif (Antarctica), Mount Everest (Asia), and Mount Kosciuszko (Oceania) or Puncak Jaya (Oceania). The reason Oceania has two different mountains is due to there being two lists: the Bass list and the Messner list. According to the Bass list, Kosciuszko should be used as the summit because it is located in Australia, which many people believe to be the seventh continent rather than Oceania. As for the Messner list, Puncak Jaya is used as the summit for Oceania because, situated at 16,024 feet, it is the highest mountain in Oceania, and he used the geographical definition of Oceania, which includes Australasia, Polynesia, and Micronesia. Moreno accomplished both lists over the span of eight years.
At 5:23 am Nepal Standard Time on May 24, 2025, Moreno reached the summit of Mount Everest, something that only a handful of people can do in their lifetime. With Everest under her belt, she became the first Colombian woman to complete the Seven Summits. However, Mount Everest was not enough for her. Not only did she summit Mount Everest, but on the same day, just hours later at 9:10 am, she also summited Lhotse, a steep and icy Himalayan mountain that is the fourth-highest peak in the world. In doing so, she became the first Colombian to summit Lhotse and the first Colombian to double summit Everest and Lhotse.
Each mountain poses its own unique threat. Whether it’s the remote location mixed with extreme cold temperatures of Mount Vinson Massif or the risks of crevasses on Denali, this is a dangerous challenge that could bring about serious injury or death, meaning that only the most experienced of climbers, like Moreno, are able to accomplish. Only the most experienced and determined of climbers are even daring enough to think about conquering this task. Through her journey, Moreno started to impress many people, including attracting the likes of Reinhold Messner, a legendary Italian mountaineer, and Edurne Pasaban, an equally well-known Spanish mountaineer. Moreno had a well-thought-out team, composed of not just Messner and Pasaban, but sherpas and guides from Adventure Consultants along the way. Together, they went through scary moments on the mountains, close calls, ups and downs, but most importantly, success. They, but more specifically Moreno, were able to accomplish history, flying under the radar of all media attention and publicity, while balancing home life, social life, and work life, all whilst partaking in her goal to conquer the Seven Summits.
Moreno’s minimal use of publicizing her journey makes her stand out in particular. Up until her ascent of Everest and Lhotse, she had not used social media to post on her accomplishments, this being a rarity nowadays. Between starting the Seven Summits in 2018 and participating in polar expeditions, she started to make a name for herself in the climbing and mountaineering community; yet still not large enough for the international spotlight, something that she most likely doesn’t mind. Part of Moreno’s journey that is astounding is the lack of public outreach, sponsorships, and media; rather, she has financed all her climbs for her personal benefit, both physically and mentally. Due to Moreno just beginning to publicize her accomplishments, we may never know what mountain she is conquering next until after the fact. Each expedition is expensive on its own, from pricy equipment to sherpa fees, training sessions, and tents, the price gets very high very quickly, and Moreno managing to pay for everything without a sponsorship is significant in itself.
The unwavering success of Moreno demonstrates the power of not just Colombian women, but women all over the world. It demonstrates how social media is not always needed to do something, and that if you put your mind to it, regardless of who you are, with the proper preparation, dedication, and mindset, you can set foot to do anything you want. It may never be known just how many mountains Moreno has climbed when she is done, but it is known that her name will forever be etched into mountaineering history as a legendary person, climber, and woman.
