Simran Bajwa is looking to be the youngest Canadian to climb the Seven Summits, and the youngest woman to conquer Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen (Image Credit: Simran Bajwa / Instagram)

By Liam Verster

Conquering Everest, Seven Summits

Vernon-based mountaineer trying to mark her name in the history books

Feb 27, 2026 | 2:33 PM

A local, young mountaineer is looking to make history. 

Simran Bajwa, a 24-year-old adventurer born and raised in Vernon, is in the process of breaking two records: becoming the youngest female in history to climb Mount Everest with no supplemental oxygen, and to be the youngest Canadian ever to climb the Seven Summits.

“I kind of discovered first the Seven Summits because I had climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2023. That was during one of my backpacking travel trips across southeast Africa. I kind of learned about it on the mountain, some of the guides were telling me about the Seven Summits and how Kilimanjaro was one of the seven, and up until that point I was just climbing for fun but I knew, as I had always been a goal-oriented person, so hearing about the Seven Summits just triggered something in me and I knew I had to kind of go for it. I didn’t find out about the youngest Canadian goal until a little bit later because I was doing more research into it when I got back home, and when I found out about it I thought ‘Well, if not now, then when?’ So, I might as well just push myself to do it,” Bajwa told Vernon Matters.

“Not long after, again doing my research about Everest and discovering my climbing style and what sort of ethics I want to surround myself with, and one of those were to climb without supplemental oxygen. It’s my own personal preference, every climber has their own reasoning and justification for how they climb and what sort of equipment they use, and I’ve never seen myself using oxygen, so I thought that’s another goal I could set for myself, it just naturally fell into my plans. There’s nothing too crazy to it, it just kind of aligns with my values and my goals and feels really fun to me, makes life really exciting, and I just feel really purpose-driven.”

The young mountaineer explained that the current record for the youngest Canadian to climb the Seven Summits was set by a 26 year old, while the youngest female to summit Everest without additional oxygen was a 27 year old.

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Bajwa has already climbed four of the seven peaks: Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua (South America), Elbrus (Europe), Puncak Jaya (Australasia/Oceania). This year, she will be looking to conquer her fifth and sixth peaks.

 “In three months, May 25, I begin my expedition up Mount Denali, which is located in Alaska. So that’s the highest mountain in North America. This one is extra special to me because it will be one of the only ones that I’m doing without a guide because most mountains have regulations around guiding systems. So me and a couple of friends are heading up there and we’re going to tackle this really cold, really long and hard expedition. We’re going to be up there for maybe three to four weeks,” Bajwa said.

“After that, I’ll be going to Antarctica this winter and I’ll be climbing Mount Vinson Massif down there.”

She will then be climbing Everest in the spring of 2027.

Bajwa has booked her trip to Nepal and has secured her spot to climb Mountain Everest. The cost was around $50,000 and she has been paying it off over the past year. To help pay for this she was looking for more sponsors and also had a GoFundMe in place.

She said each mountain takes different preparation and training, due to them having different geographical terrain and weather systems, but her training has mainly been focused on the final goal of summitting Everest, with “minor tweaks” to adjust for the next challenge coming her way.

“I’ve been integrating sled-pulling, much heavier pack-carrying, because on Denali you don’t get any porters, no assistance carrying up gear. So that means you have to carry sometimes upwards of 140 pounds of gear in your sled and your backpack, that kind of differentiates itself from any other mountain,” Bajwa explained.

“The training process, as long as your training for a long time because I think endurance is a big thing, for me at least I think that has helped. Training your mindset is a big one, because sometimes its 70 per cent mental and 30 per cent physical. Then learning your gear, learning how to live on a mountain, learning how to live off of the land, it’s a whole different ballpark.”

The adventurer said growing up in Vernon, she fell in love with the outdoors, which grew into her passion after moving to Squamish in 2021. From there, she then started travelling to conquer peaks around the world, and has since visited over 24 countries and done major climbs in four or five of them.

“It’s been kind of a wild journey,” the mountaineer said.

“I think I really found my passion and it has almost made my life easier, but harder in the sense that I’ve been dreaming a lot bigger, but I know what I’m dreaming and what I want. It’s kind of a give and take.”

Bajwa also stated that she had a difficult childhood, and did not have support for her adventures, and has been able to find some sponsors for her climbs, but was still searching for extra funds to help with her Everest adventure.

People can follow Bajwa’s adventures by visiting her website or following her on Instagram and TikTok.

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