U.S. teen, her dad aim for historic seven summits record on Everest
U.S. teen Emma Schwerin and her father are aiming to become the first father-daughter duo to complete the Seven Summits with a historic Everest climb this season.
Climbing The Seven Summits
A teenage climber from the United States and her father are attempting to make mountaineering history this spring on Mount Everest by becoming the first father-daughter duo to complete the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each continent.
Emma Schwerin, who has already made headlines as the youngest woman to summit Antarctica’s Mount Vinson at age 16, is also vying for several individual records. If successful, she could become the youngest person, youngest woman, and youngest American woman to both summit Mount Everest and complete the Seven Summits challenge, according to her outfitter Climbing The Seven Summits.
Her father, Samuel Lawrence Schwerin, is climbing alongside her in what could be a landmark moment in Himalayan climbing history. The pair are among nearly 450 climbers who have received permits for Everest this season, according to Nepal’s Department of Tourism.
Instagram posts from the 17-year-old climber show her acclimatizing between Camp I and Camp II, part of the standard rotation process to prepare for the summit bid. Like hundreds of others, the Schwerins are currently waiting at Everest base camp and higher camps for a suitable weather window to attempt the summit.
The 2025 spring season is shaping up to be one of the busiest in recent years, with more than 2,000 climbers, guides, and support staff stationed at base camp. The climbing route is currently fixed with ropes up to 7,200 meters, but heavy snowfall since late April has delayed the rope-fixing team’s progress toward the 8,849-meter summit.
While the Seven Summits challenge has been completed by hundreds of climbers worldwide, no documented father-daughter team has yet achieved the feat.
