Climbing Everest to Close the Gender Gap
My name is Lucy Westlake - I’m 18 years old from Naperville, Illinois. I’ve been climbing mountains since I was seven.
I’m now ready to climb Everest to attempt the American Record as the youngest American woman to stand on the top of the world. Why? For the past eleven years I’ve been fighting to prove my worth in the mountains. Mountaineering is a sport dominated by men twice my age and size who can shoulder 75 pounds of gear with ease. And I’m ready to fight to change that. To show this generation of young girls that we belong in the mountains.
I am dedicating this climb to AWE Summit Scholarship Foundation to help make the mountains accessible for young girls. Girls don't feel they belong in the outdoors because they don't see anyone like themselves there. The mountains belong to everyone and the lessons learned in them build strength, confidence, adaptability, and resilience. Skills that young girls in our world need. They need a role model - to see someone like themselves - climbing these mountains. That is my motivation for standing on the top of Everest this May.
I graduated a semester early from high school, giving up prom and my graduation ceremony, to pursue something far greater than myself. This is an opportunity to inspire a generation of young girls to pursue adventure, challenge their perceived limits and believe it’s possible. I’m setting a new American Record to inspire the next young girl to break it.
I need your help. Please donate whatever you feel called to do ($10, 20, 50, ect) and please share this link with others. I can’t do it without you, but we can do it together. Thank you!
About AWE Summit Scholarship Foundation
The AWE Summit Scholarship Foundation exists to break down barriers of entry to the big mountain realm for women from all walks of life. By empowering women through adventure we contribute to female empowerment and gender equality on and off the mountain.
Our mission is to bring more women into the high-altitude realm and share the life-changing empowering adventure of stepping outside your comfort zone and pushing your limits in challenging environments. We are closing the gender gap - one mountain at a time.
