Italian climber Nives Meroi on Thursday scaled Everest to become the first woman to climb ten of the world's highest mountains.
"What a tough climb! My hands are blue and I don't know about my feet - we'll see when we get down to base camp," Meroi managed to type on her website after struggling through a bitterly cold Himalayan night to the top of the world.
The 46-year-old record-breaker from Tarvisio in Italy's northeastern mountains - who climbs with husband Romano Benet - also became the first Italian woman to conquer Everest without oxygen tanks.
Another top Italian female climber, Everest guide Rosa Mannoni, was defeated by the weather.
Meroi has now beaten three of the world's 8,000m-high beasts in the last year - climbing world No.2 K2 in July and No.7 Dhaulagiri a year ago - in her bid to join famed mountain men like Reinhold Messner in boasting all 14 in the 8,000 club.
In the process, she has overtaken her two rivals, Gelinde Kaltenbrunner of Austria (stuck on nine after abandoning a Dhaulagiri bid) and Edurne Pasaban of Spain's Basque region, who is on eight.
The four Meroi now has her sights on are world No.3 Kangchenjunga, No.5 Makalu, No.8 Manaslu and No.10 Annapurna.
The eight-thousanders are all in the Himalayan or Karakoram ranges in Nepal, Nepal/Tibet, Pakistan and Pakistan/China.
