Most teenagers spend the summer deciding what comes next. Fatima Al Awadhi is spending hers preparing to climb more than 7,000 metres above sea level.At 18, the Abu Dhabi-born mountaineer has already reached the summits of some of the world’s most demanding peaks. Now, Fatima Al Awadhi is taking on Lenin Peak in Kyrgyzstan’s Pamir Mountains, the highest-altitude challenge of her climbing career so far.
Rising 7,134 metres above sea level, Lenin Peak represents another major step towards an ambition she first formed as a schoolgirl: to complete the Seven Summits before turning 20 and eventually achieve the Explorer’s Grand Slam.
Fatima’s journey into mountaineering began during an intensely difficult period in her life. While her father was in a coma, she joined the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award scheme as a way of navigating her grief.
A trek through Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley introduced her to the mountains. Later, while sitting around a campfire in the Himalayas, she decided she would attempt the Seven Summits, climbing the highest mountain on each continent.
What began as a way to process loss soon became a defining personal mission.
Fatima began with Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa before climbing Mount Elbrus, becoming the youngest Emirati to reach its summit.
She went on to become the youngest Arab to summit both Vinson Massif in Antarctica and Carstensz Pyramid in Oceania. With four of the Seven Summits already completed, her progress has been remarkable.
Her first mountaineering expedition on a 5,000-metre peak took place in July 2025. Just one year later, she is preparing to attempt a 7,000-metre mountain.
The Lenin Peak expedition is being undertaken under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates.
Behind the records is an equally demanding balancing act. Between expeditions, Fatima is a full-time university student studying Economics.
Training for each climb requires months of physical preparation, technical instruction, logistical planning, travel and recovery. Fatima manages all of this without stepping away from her academic commitments.
Her future ambitions are even greater. She hopes to break a regional record and plans to attempt Mount Everest and Lhotse in a double summit within 24 hours.
Yet, for Fatima, the journey is about more than records.
“My journey goes beyond summits and records,” she said. “I hope my story encourages others to say yes to unfamiliar paths, step outside their comfort zones, and embrace challenges they never thought possible.”
At 18, Fatima Al Awadhi is not simply climbing mountains. She is showing what can happen when grief becomes purpose, ambition becomes discipline and an unfamiliar path becomes the only one worth taking.
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