Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner

Maxut Zhumayev (left) of Kazakhstan, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, originally from Austria, and Vassiliy Pivtsov of Kazakhstan just after reaching the top of K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, on Aug. 23, 2011. Each of the three alpinists has summited all of Earth’s 14 major peaks without using supplementary oxygen. Kaltenbrunner was named National Geographic Explorer of the Year for her achievement in a ceremony in Washington, DC on June 14, 2012.