High-altitude climber, fitness disciple, and high-camp peacemaker, Melissa Arnot holds the American women’s world record with 6 successful summits of Mt. Everest. She is the first American woman to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen. A professional mountain guide since 2004, she has guided on 4 continents, summited Mt. Rainier 109 times, and co-founded The Juniper Fund to support Sherpa families faced with climbing tragedies. In 2014, Arnot pioneered a first ascent of 20,600-foot Mustang Himal in a remote and newly permitted region of Nepal and also traveled to the Wrangell St. Elias range in Alaska to tick a number of expedition ascents.

Arnot is widely respected as a pioneering and inspiring female athlete in the male-dominated mountaineering world, generating widespread media recognition with appearances on outlets such as Chelsea Lately, ESPN, ABC News, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Outside Magazine, Self, Fitness, Maxim Adventure, and Women’s Health. In 2015, Arnot set her sights on summiting Everest without supplemental oxygen, a goal that was profiled extensively by Glamour Magazine and NBC’s The Today Show. After the tragic earthquake in Nepal, she refocused her determination on applying her background as a wilderness EMT to the villages impacted by the devastation and destruction.  Returning in 2016 and climbing from the North side in Tibet, Melissa successfully summited and descended Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen. She lives in the mountains of Washington state where she spends her time guiding, running a mentorship program for young climbers and spending time playing outside with her husband and daughter.