#487 Antonina Samoilova, Record Breaking Ukrainian Mountaineer on Fear, Mentality, and Her Journey to Scale the World's 14 Highest Peaks
About this episode
Antonina Samoilova shares her inspiring journey as a record-breaking Ukrainian mountaineer and her efforts to raise awareness for Ukraine through her climbs.
Antonina "Tonya" Samoilova (@tonya.samoilova) ) is a record-setting Ukrainian mountaineer and alpinist known for scaling the world's most formidable peaks while raising global awareness for her homeland. She began her high-altitude mountaineering journey relatively recently in 2018, starting with Mount Kilimanjaro, and quickly transformed into one of Ukraine's most prominent endurance athletes. She is the first Ukrainian mountaineer in history to conquer the five highest mountain peaks in the world—Everest, K2, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, and Makalu, and the first Ukrainian woman to summit Mount Everest three times (2022, 2023, and 2024). In May 2024, she completed a rare double-header by summiting Everest and Lhotse within 24 hours, setting a national speed record for a female climber. During her 2025 ascent of Kangchenjunga—the world's third-highest peak—she survived running out of supplemental air 200 meters from the summit, pushing through 20 harrowing minutes without oxygen at 8,400 meters. Samoilova uses her global platforms and extreme ascents to act as a prominent voice for Ukraine. In 2022, she was the only climber from Ukraine to unfurl her country's flag at the summit of…
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