Highlights 1 Junko Tabei was the first woman to ascend Mount Everest in 19752 She died of cancer on Thursday3 In 1992, she also became the first woman to climb all "Seven Summits"The first woman to ascend Mount Everest in 1975 has died at the age of 77, a Japanese media reported on SundayJapanese mountaineer Junko Tabei died of cancer on Thursday at a hospital in Saitama prefecture. The climber, born in 1939, conquered the world's highest peak that towers a colossal 8,848 meters on May 16, 1975 when she was 35. In 1992, she also became the first woman to climb all "Seven Summits," a grouping of the highest peak on each continent. A graduate in English literature from Showa Women's University, Tabei also founded the "Ladies Climbing Club: Japan" in 1969. During her lifetime, Tabei scaled summits in over 60 countries and continued to travel abroad five to six times a year, to pursue her passion even after she turned 70.

Source: India Today October 23, 2016 10:38 UTC