In 1975, Junko Tabei climbed Everest, the first woman to reach its summit. 50 years on, join the Mount Everest Foundation to celebrate her ascent and discover the rarely told stories of extraordinary pioneering women in the Himalayas and beyond.
This celebratory event features speakers who embody the living history of women’s mountaineering today.
- Jo Bradshaw, herself an Everest summiteer, shares with us the societal and cultural barriers that the Japanese climber Junko Tabei determinedly overcame to be the first woman to stand on Everest’s summit.
- Physicist Dr Melanie Windridge explores the science behind climbing Everest and examines how the experience may differ for women compared to men.
- A small exploratory trio, Elizabeth Porter, Dr Caitlin McHale and Martha Gutteridge, take us on a rocky road to the remote Ak-Shyyrak mountain range in Kyrgystan in search of unclimbed peaks.
Hosted by the Mount Everest Foundation which is jointly administered by the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club and supports exploratory scientific and mountaineering expeditions worldwide.
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A night on the extinction express
Join award winning conservationist Sacha Dench on a journey flying alongside Bewick’s swans from Russia to the UK by paramotor. Find out why we need ‘conservation without borders’ and an ‘MI5 for nature’, what’s next on the ‘extinction express’, and how you could be part of it.
London and onlineOpen to allMonday 22 September 2025 - Lecture
An elephant never forgets
A behind-the-scenes, illustrated talk from Sophy Roberts about her new Sunday Times bestseller, A Training School for Elephants, which weaves past and present in travels that take her from Iraq to India, the DRC and Tanzania, finishing up at a convent with an elephant on Lake Tanganyika.
London and onlineOpen to allMonday 29 September 2025 - Lecture
The library of lost maps
James Cheshire spent three years uncovering the treasures of a long-forgotten map library for his book The Library of Lost Maps. Sharing the contents of this archive, he will reveal the power of maps and their makers to transform our world.
London and onlineOpen to allMonday 6 October 2025