The lyrics to one of the songs by the late Aaliyah, “then dust yourself off and try again”, are an understatement for one South African woman, Marlette “Molly” de Jager, 41. She finally reached the top of the gruelling Mount Everest after she had tried three times before.
De Jager became the sixth South African woman to reach the peak about two weeks ago.
According to Good Things Guy, the Johannesburg-based alpinist and motivational speaker attempted the feat earlier in 2014, 2015, and 2017. In her latest fearless adventure, she managed to achieve her goal by reaching the top of the world’s highest peak above sea level.
The snow-white peak is situated in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The international boundary between Nepal and China goes across its peak.
In April 2015, De Jager escaped an avalanche that swept across their Everest base camp in Nepal due to an earthquake. As reported worldwide, at least 22 climbers were killed in the avalanche.
Marlette de Jager from Port Shepstone is among a group of South Africans who survived an avalanche and the… http://t.co/A8D6lLSwHX
— south coast fever (@Southcoastfever) April 30, 2015
However, this did stop her from trying again as she reached her goal earlier this month after climbing 8 850 metres together with Irish mountaineer Noel Hanna.
Meanwhile, De Jager has now climbed six of the world’s highest summits which include, Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus, Aconcagua, Mount Denali and the Carstensz Pyramid are amongst her accomplishments.
Picture: Twitter/@sandidakar