KATHMANDU: Norwegian mountaineer Kristin Harila summited Mount Lhotse (8,516m) on Thursday morning, completing the second leg of her audacious Triple Crown challenge — a single-season, no-supplemental-oxygen ascent of Nuptse, Lhotse, and Everest in the Khumbu region.

Harila's Lhotse summit on May 21 follows her ascent of Nuptse (7,861m) on May 17, both achieved without supplementary oxygen. Chhang Dawa Sherpa, Expedition Director at Seven Summit Treks, which is organising and managing the expedition, confirmed the Lhotse summit and indicated Harila was expected to attempt Everest within a day or two.

The Triple Crown, combining three neighbouring giants in the Khumbu, is considered one of the rarest achievements in Himalayan mountaineering. Completing all three in a single season without supplemental oxygen would place the feat in a category of its own.

Harila is accompanied on the challenge by Mingtemba Sherpa, with whom she summited Nuptse in a single fresh push from base camp. It was her first ascent of the peak. Mingtemba was also part of the team that fixed the Everest summit route earlier this season on May 13.

Both climbers have previously summited all 14 eight-thousanders. Harila set the world speed record for that achievement in 2023, completing all 14 peaks in just 92 days.