Meet Erin Parisi, the trans athlete on a mission to climb all Seven Summits

"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until they come home and rests mind."

Mike Limerson, Hiker

Mountaineer Erin Parisi has planted the pride flag on the summit of five of the world’s highest mountains. Only two more peaks, Denali and Everest, and Parisi will be the first known trans woman to climb all Seven Summits. It’s a massive achievement—and as James Shackell discovers, it’s changed her perspective on life. In December 2021, just before New Year’s Eve and shortly after her 45th birthday, Erin Parisi was standing in a place that only about 2,000 humans have ever been before: the summit of Mount Vinson in Antarctica. Ambient temperature: -52 degrees Fahrenheit (-46 degrees Celsius). Altitude: 16,050 feet (4,891 meters). Its summit juts out from sea level—making it the eighth-most prominent peak in the world; a lonely, wind-blasted massif on the western edge of a frozen continent. When Parisi reached the summit, she waved the trans pride flag, danced around, and screamed into the gale, “I got it! I got it!” It had taken four days of trekking to reach the peak, plus weeks of navigating quarantine hurdles and years of patient fundraising. High-altitude mountaineering is not a cheap hobby.“At the time I committed to climbing the Seven Summits, I was afraid to go to the grocery store, and here I was standing on the tallest point of Antarctica,” says Parisi. “Let me tell you, there’s nothing easy about getting to Antarctica.”

Erin sitting in tall grass in soft light. — Erin Parisi is on a mission to become the first known trans woman to climb all Seven Summits. Photo courtesy of Erin Parisi

For Parisi, Mount Vinson marked summit number five of the notorious Seven Summits—a list comprised of the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents. So far she’s summited Mount Kosciuszko in Australia (a relative speed bump, compared to the rest of the list), Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Elbrus in Russia, Aconcagua in Argentina, and now, Mount Vinson. Denali in Alaska and Everest are the last two remaining. RELATED: The historic Trans Bhutan Trail is re-opening after 60 years Parisi, who now lives in Denver, Colorado, has been mountaineering for 25 years, but the hope to climb the Seven Summits only came about after she transitioned in 2016.“When I came out of the closet, I realized that I didn’t have many positive role models in my life,” she says. “I worked myself up into this narrative that, if I transitioned, I would be lost. I did lose a lot of friends, but I also gained a lot of perspectives. “I felt uplifted and strong enough to take on a new challenge.” So I said, ‘Why not stand on the highest point I can?’

“Before I knew it, I had three summits done in six months, which sounds fast, but the world record is held by an Australian guy who did all seven in 120 days!”

Hikers on the boardwalk up to Mount Kosciuszko. — Parisi has already summited five of the Seven Summits, including Mount Kosciuszko and Mount Kilimanjaro.Top: Christian Bass; Middle: Marc Kargel; Bottom: Sergey Pesterev

Mont Blanc in the background covered in snow with a lake in the foreground showing the mountain reflections. — Parisi has already summited five of the Seven Summits, including Mount Kosciuszko and Mount Kilimanjaro.Top: Christian Bass; Middle: Marc Kargel; Bottom: Sergey Pesterev

Parisi started with Australia’s Mount Kosciuszko. It’s by far the smallest and safest of the Seven Summits, rising a lazy 7,309 feet (2,227 meters) into the clear sky of the Australian Alps. But that didn’t necessarily make it easy. Parisi had just emerged from a tough divorce. She’d recently come out as trans, losing a lot of friends in the process. And now she was embarking on one of the toughest quests in mountaineering, which would take her to some of the coldest, loneliest, most dangerous spots on the planet.

“I think originally, I was doing this for myself. I was sending a big fuck-you out to the world.”

– Erin Parisi

“It’s tricky to say which peak was the hardest, but that first one, going to Australia, was particularly tough for me. They say Kosciuszko is the easiest of the summits, but coming out was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life, and getting on a plane, leaving Colorado, leaving my neighborhood, and standing on top of a mountain that was so far away… that was huge. It was a lot of little baby steps in order to get my confidence and courage up.”

Erin hiking with a backpack, bathed in warm light. — Parisi lives in Denver, Colorado, and has been mountaineering for 25 years. Photo courtesy of Erin Parisi

The world of high-altitude climbing is just one aspect of Parisi’s life. She spends most of her time running a real estate network in Denver. As a child, she grew up in Buffalo, New York, near Niagara Falls (altitude: about 600 feet, or 182 meters). She moved to Colorado to pursue her passion for mountain biking and backcountry skiing, but also to explore the budding queer community.“I came here and did some homework and realized there was a queer community in Colorado, but at that time I wasn’t out,” she says. “I just wanted to get as close to the mountains as I could and find a place with some long-term possibilities. RELATED: Into the wilderness: Welcome to Canada’s newest trailParisi’s path to high-altitude mountaineering started with backcountry skiing. “I traveled to Colorado with my aunt, 20 years ago now, and she was a big skier,” she recalls. “We were in this ancient, archaic gear: old alpine skis and backcountry touring rig. That’s what made me decide to move here.”

Denver suited Parisi, with its nearby mountains and wide-open sky, but her transition wasn’t necessarily a smooth one. “I had to adapt to reality, and people aren’t always friendly,” she says. “I got beat up between my first and second summits. I got home and was physically assaulted in my own neighborhood. I was scared to go to the grocery store.”

Prayer flags and a sign that reads 'Aconcagua' mark the summit of this mountain. — Three of the tallest peaks on the planet: Aconcagua, Everest, and Mt. Elbrus.Top: Tom Cleary; Middle: Michael Clarke; Bottom: Ivan Lukyanov

People at Mount Everest Base camp gather to look up at the mountain. — Three of the tallest peaks on the planet: Aconcagua, Everest, and Mt. Elbrus.Top: Tom Cleary; Middle: Michael Clarke; Bottom: Ivan Lukyanov

Originally this sort of thing only fueled Parisi’s determination. To prove people wrong. To stick it to transphobes. To fight back against a hostile and sometimes frightening world. But with each summit reached, she’s come to realize that her quest has a much more positive purpose. She’s even founded her own nonprofit, TranSending, which has a mission to increase the visibility of trans athletes and make sports safer and more inclusive for everyone.

“This is for all the people who stand behind me. I get a lot of emails from around the world, from the trans community, and from their families, too. Parents who say, ‘I didn’t know how to support my child, I didn’t know there was a positive narrative out there.’”

– Erin Parisi

“I was sending a big fuck-you out to the world,” she says. “And at some point, I realized I was doing it not despite the world, but with the support of the world. Before my transition, I focused on the people that were trying to stop me, on the hatred, but I found a lot of people just wanted to help.”

Erin Parisi and others hiking along a snow covered ridge. — Parisi says she’s climbing not in spite of the world, but with the support of the world. Photo courtesy of Erin Parisi

The next stop for Parisi is Denali in summer 2022. Then Everest, looming at the finish line. Parisi has climbed Denali once before and knows not to underestimate it. “Denali is no joke,” she says, flatly. “I think on Everest you get a lot of amateur climbers, but they say Denali is harder than Everest in a lot of ways. There’s no way to get off the mountain once you’re up there, no Sherpas or Basecamp to speak of. Basecamp at Denali is like one park ranger in a shack checking the weather forecast. It’s not a moving city like Everest.”Parisi says the goal now is more significant than just the Seven Summits. It’s about trans people and trans athletes everywhere. About breaking new ground, leaving footprints in the snow for others to follow, and planting a flag for the whole world to see.“This is for all the people who stand behind me,” she says. “I get a lot of emails from around the world, from the trans community, and from their families, too. Parents who say, ‘I didn’t know how to support my child, I didn’t know there was a positive narrative out there.’She is also doing it for herself. “It’s also a self-goal,” Parisi says. “The ambition to be the person I wasn’t before.”

Author: James Shackell

James Shackell is a freelance journalist with words in The Huffington Post, Red Bull, Canadian Traveler, and Smith Journal. One day, he’ll be bumped to business class, and you’ll never hear the end of it.