At 64, She’s Chasing the World’s Highest Summits After Losing Her Husband — Her Story Is Inspiring People Everywhere

At 64, Eva Steinwald is proving that some of life’s most extraordinary chapters can begin after the hardest moments.

After losing her husband of 26 years in 2018, the Idaho-based real estate agent and karate instructor found herself facing a deeply personal question: Who was she without the man who had shared so much of her life?

Rather than allowing grief to define her future, Steinwald began searching for a new sense of purpose. That journey eventually led her to the mountains, where she discovered a challenge that would change her life.

Her ambitious goal is known as “7 Summits x 70”: climbing the highest mountain on every continent by the time she turns 70.

Her journey has already taken her to some of the world’s most demanding peaks, including Mount Everest, Denali, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc.

In May 2025, at age 63, Steinwald reached the summit of Mount Everest. According to PEOPLE, she became the oldest American woman to achieve that milestone at the time, although her record was surpassed shortly afterward.

Reaching Everest was not simply a physical accomplishment. Steinwald spent months preparing for the climb, working with altitude and strength coaches. Even with that preparation, the expedition tested her mentally and emotionally.

The road to the summit had not been easy. Her first attempt to climb Denali in 2023 ended when dangerous weather forced her team to turn back. In 2024, while climbing Aconcagua in Argentina, she suffered a fall that nearly ended her attempt.

Those setbacks taught her that determination alone cannot control every outcome in mountaineering. The weather, terrain and risks of the mountains must always be respected.

But Steinwald continued.

After Everest, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in January 2026 and Mont Blanc in the Alps in June of the same year. She now plans to attempt Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia in October 2027, followed by Mount Vinson in Antarctica in December.

If she completes those climbs, she hopes to finish her Seven Summits challenge by age 65, years ahead of her original deadline.

For Steinwald, however, the journey is about much more than reaching the top of a mountain.

She says the loss of her husband made her realize how precious life is and encouraged her to discover a new version of herself. Along the way, she has also found that sharing her experiences can inspire others to revisit dreams they once believed were out of reach.

Her message is not that everyone needs to climb Everest. Instead, she encourages people to take the first step toward something meaningful, whether that means learning a new skill, traveling somewhere they’ve always wanted to visit or finally pursuing a long-delayed ambition.

Steinwald’s story is a reminder that grief can change a person’s life, but it does not have to bring the story to an end.

Sometimes, a new beginning starts with a single step — even when the path ahead leads toward the highest places on Earth.

Source: PEOPLE