Twelve days after being buried alive by an avalanche, she crawled sideways across a razor-thin ice ridge near the summit of Everest, wearing waterproof gloves she had sewn herself from old car covers. This deep dive traces the life of Junko Tabei, a frail child from Fukushima who became the first woman to climb Everest and the first to complete the Seven Summits.

We examine how she navigated intense cultural resistance, funded expeditions without corporate backing, and rethought the value of stoicism on a deadly mountain, forcing her all-women team to vocalize their limits to survive.

• Founding the Joshi-Tohan women’s climbing club with a mission to run overseas expeditions themselves
• Establishing a dangerous new route on Annapurna III, where the film in their camera shattered from cold
• Sewing gear from curtains and car covers and teaching piano to fund the 1975 Everest expedition
• Surviving the avalanche and making the final push with Sherpa Ang Tshering on May 16, 1975
• Refusing corporate sponsorship, completing the Seven Summits, and later leading Everest cleanup efforts