In 1975, Junko Tabei climbed Everest, the first woman to reach its summit. 50 years on, join the Mount Everest Foundation to celebrate her ascent and discover the rarely told stories of extraordinary pioneering women in the Himalayas and beyond.
This celebratory event features speakers who embody the living history of women’s mountaineering today.
- Jo Bradshaw, herself an Everest summiteer, shares with us the societal and cultural barriers that the Japanese climber Junko Tabei determinedly overcame to be the first woman to stand on Everest’s summit.
- Physicist Dr Melanie Windridge explores the science behind climbing Everest and examines how the experience may differ for women compared to men.
- A small exploratory trio, Elizabeth Porter, Dr Caitlin McHale and Martha Gutteridge, take us on a rocky road to the remote Ak-Shyyrak mountain range in Kyrgystan in search of unclimbed peaks.
Hosted by the Mount Everest Foundation which is jointly administered by the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club and supports exploratory scientific and mountaineering expeditions worldwide.
- Monday Night Lecture
Zen in the art of geography
The RGS Neville Shulman Challenge Award was created 25 years ago to support ambitious expeditions. Neville Shulman CBE, explorer and writer, will explain his philosophy behind the programme. The 2023 recipients of the Award, Karolina Gawonicz and Michal Lukaszewicz will give a richly illustrated account of their 60-day unsupported canoe expedition across the Barren Lands of Canada.
London and onlineOpen to allMonday 27 October 2025 - Monday Night Lecture
Bound by water: linking Amazonian diversity and climate vulnerability
In this lecture, National Geographic Explorers Julia Tavares and Thiago Silva will explore how they are combining cutting-edge methods in plant morphology and functional ecology, environmental monitoring, drone remote sensing and 3D laser scanning (LiDAR) to address a central question: How are different Amazonian forests being affected by climate change?
London and onlineOpen to allMonday 3 November 2025 - Monday night lecture
Revisiting the Dolgarrog dam disaster after 100 years
On 2 November 1925, a catastrophic flood swept through Dolgarrog village in north Wales, depositing enormous boulders and killing 16 people. In 2025, what have we learnt from this flood disaster?
London and onlineOpen to allMonday 10 November 2025