How Getting Diagnosed with Breast Cancer Motivated Lisa Thompson to Climb the Seven Summits
Being a woman isn’t easy, period. But being a woman who climbed the high points of all seven continents fresh after a cancer diagnosis? We’ve got a lot to learn from Lisa.
Lisa Thompson ventured into male-dominated mountaineering after overhearing others’ adventures in her corporate office. Soon, she was climbing globally and had eyes on some of the world’s highest mountains. Before a Himalayan journey, breast cancer entered the scene. She continued to climb through what cancer brought, which also reshaped her priorities.
Lisa fervently empowers women in mountain exploration. Her 2022 all-women's Cholatse summit birthed philanthropic climbs. As Alpine Athletics' founder, she readies mountain athletes physically, mentally, and tactically, using her firsthand mountain wisdom to craft tailored coaching. Her memoir, Finding Elevation: Fear and Courage on the World’s Most Deadly Mountain illustrates how she got to where she is.
We talk about...
Finding her way into mountain climbing through external validation
Starting mountaineering in her late 30’s after not having an athletic background
Working a corporate job in Seattle, surrounded by men who would climb the Cascades on the weekends
Wanting to be considered a capable equal, so taking it upon herself to hike a mountain ny herself
Deciding to climb Rainier that summer to prove herself even more
Pursuing the Seven Summits with a new mindset
Realizing after K2 and therapy that validation has to come from herself
By guarding yourself with perfection, you keep away connection with others
When her climbing coach let her go because they didn’t think she was ready to climb K2
The mountains demand respect: how that makes her intentional and mindful
How mountains and cancer taught her boundaries, values and how to listen to her body
Getting diagnosed with cancer and continuing her passion
A layered identity through a breast cancer diagnosis at 42 years old
Realizing that being strong looks many different ways, and it isn’t perfection
Looking back at cancer now as something that changed her in a positive way
Shaking up her life quickly: diagnosis, a divorce, pets’ deaths, and selling almost everything she owned to focus on climbing
Friends’ and family’s perception of you when you change: they get uncomfortable
A double mastectomy and going to climb Manaslu in Nepal months later, then deciding to climb Everest
Listening to her intuition on K2, even if it differed from what the leader said
Realizing how fragile life is, and wanting to get the most out of it by focusing on passion
Supporting women in the mountains
Becoming the second American woman to stand atop K2 (and what it means to be second)
Returning to K2 the year after she reached the summit to support other women
Currently focusing on all-women’s expeditions all over the world, and hiring Nepalese women who have lost their partners while raising money for girls’ education in Nepal
Being a woman on a male-dominated team on Everest: inconveniences, expectations, and standing up for herself turning into no longer hiding her femininity or putting up with sexist jokes
Problematic words society uses: “conquering” mountains, “battling” cancer
Lisa’s process for studying and preparing for a new climb and how different mountains have different personalities
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Music: The Kind of Sandwich Island by Shut-ins
Thank you to The Ruins, the best wedding venue in Oregon, for supporting the show.