The first African woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, Saray Khumalo is on a quest to brake more records.
She is aiming to be the first African to complete the Explorer Grand Slam, which involves reaching the North Pole, the South Pole and all of the seven highest peaks on the seven continents. There are only 67 people in the world who have completed this challenge to date.
Momentum Multiply announced it will be partnering with Khumalo to help her reach her goal.
CEO of Momentum Multiply, Zureida Ebrahim, said: “With this new partnership, we also celebrate and support Saray, not only as a mountaineer but in all aspects of her life.
The journey to success is paved with many challenges and Saray is testament that one does not reach the top alone – she not only climbed with a professional support team but also with the backing of 57 million South Africans,” Ebrahim said.
Here is what you need to know about Khumalo:
Her big win
She is the first black African woman to scale Mount Everest.
She had failed attempts:
In May 2017, Khumalo had to be rescued from Mount Everest by helicopter. She had been injured during inclement weather while trying to reach the summit. She was at an altitude of 8 749m - a mere 99 metres from the Everest summit, making her the record holder of the black African women for 2017 and 2018.
In 2015, Khumalo reached Everest Camp 2, but the expedition was abandoned after an earthquake in Nepal. In 2014, she reached the Everest Base camp, but the mountain was closed following an avalanche that claimed the lives of 16 trained guides.
She is active
She has been climbing mountains for the past seven years. She has reached the summits of Mount Kilimanjaro (5 896m) in Tanzania (2012), Mera Peak (6 476m) in Nepal (2014), Lobuche East (6 119m) in Nepal (2014), the Mount Elbrus traverse (5 642m) in southern Russia (2014), and the Mount Aconcagua traverse (6 980m) in Argentina (2015).