“We All Have an Everest to Climb” – 47-Year-Old Salvadoran Woman After Becoming First From Her Country to Scale World’s Highest Mountain

The peak of Mount Everest has seen yet another flag waved. While climbing Mount Everest has become somewhat of a cliche today, being the first one from your country to succeed in your climb is a very impressive feat. This feat belongs to Salvadoran adventurer Alfa Karina Arrué. Arrué, who is 47 years old, scaled the 29,029-foot incline on the mountain on May 11, 2022. Arrué’s passion and determination led to the Salvadoran flag waved from the highest point in the world.

Arrué has since taken a break from the mountains. She instead delivers presentations at the El Camino Social Justice Center. During her talks, Arrué draws from her experiences as a veteran climber to inspire people all over the world.

How Arrué Scaled Everest

Arrué’s new mission is to inspire women all over the world to make their own decisions and follow their passion. The climber claimed she scaled Everest to prove to everyone that El Salvador may be light on resources, but its people have heart. Arrué said she spent seven years training while also using that time to secure funding. However, Arrué’s race and nationality meant that most, if not all, companies shut their door when she arrived.

Read More; “One of the Most Difficult Things I’ve Ever Done” – 35-Year-Old Mountaineer After Climbing 177 Peaks in 8 Days

The 47-year-old tried to face the mountain in 2022. After training for a while, Arrué mortgaged her house and put it in foreclosure simply to fund her trip to Nepal. During this attempt, Arrué scaled an impressive 27,000 feet high just to be sent back due to the very real threat of avalanches. However, her country recognized her valiant effort and offered to pay for the next trip.

“It was my confirmation that if you work hard, the world will compensate you,” she said. With the same mission and renewed funding, Arrué finally returned to Nepal in March 2022. Despite inhuman weather conditions and health problems, Arrué became the first Salvadoran to scale Mount Everest.

A Big Step For All Women

“I sacrificed a lot of time with my children to train but they came to understand that as a mother, I don’t disappear, I am a person with dreams. It’s [also] important to transmit that message to women,” Arrué said. El Camino Senator of Fine Arts also believes that Arrué could be invaluable as a motivational speaker in college.“I was happy because her story moved me, we all have mountains to climb and it doesn’t matter how big yours is, they’re all the same,” said El Camino Senator of Fine Arts Dulce Stein.

While this victory is a big step forward for all women and mothers who seek to be independent someday, it is also based on the assumption that Arrué couldn’t climb well enough due to race and nationality. “[My mountain] was literal but you can do it, too,” Arrué said. “I invite you to climb your own Everest.”