Attention Getter

Name: Danielle Fisher

Home: Bow, Washington
Gig: Mountaineer
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 130
Age: 20

In June, Fisher became the youngest American to stand atop Mount Everest—and the youngest person ever to complete the Seven Summits, knocking off the highest peak on each continent in just over two years.

SEEN NEXT: On Pakistan's 26,470-foot Gasherbrum and 26,360-foot Gasherbrum II next summer, as she moves on to more 8,000-meter peaks. But she says K2 will keep her from becoming the first woman to climb all 14 of the world's tallest mountains: "I don't want to put myself in that danger."

CLIMBING FIX: Fisher was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder in sixth grade and credits the intensity of mountaineering—which she got into five years ago, at the urging of her father—with improving her focus. "Increasingly, who I am on the mountain is who I am in the rest of my life."

STEPPING UP: Fisher used guides on Everest, Europe's Mount Elbrus, Antarctica's Vinson Massif, and Africa's Kilimanjaro but plans to climb on her own more in the future—and possibly become a guide herself. But that decision will have to wait until after she graduates from Washington State University, where she's considering a major in material sciences or engineering. "I want it to be a choice when I go climbing. I want to have something else."

SECOND OPINION: "Usually somebody that young doesn't necessarily do very well up high," says Alpine Ascents International senior guide Dave Morton, who led Fisher up Everest. "She is definitely one of the strongest people I've climbed with at altitude."

Published by Outside, October 1, 2005.