Right Next Door: Samantha Larson and Dr. David Larson, Mountain Climbers

Right Next Door: Samantha Larson and Dr. David Larson, Mountain Climbers
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Mountain climbers Dr. David Larson and his daughter Samantha, the first father/daughter team to summit Everest © Ian Spanier Photography 2015

Years ago, when Dr. David Larson had a "crazy" desire to one day climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest peak, neither his wife nor his 14-year-old son expressed any interest. Then 11-year-old Samantha raised her hand: "I wanna go!" So Dad and daughter did -- first Kilimanjaro, then more peaks on the famed "Bass list" of seven summits worldwide until just one was left: Everest.
The highest mountain on earth would become Samantha's greatest accomplishment; when she and Dr. Larson climbed it in 2007, she became, at age 18, the youngest non-Nepalese woman to achieve the feat. (For a time, she was the youngest person to complete all seven Bass summits; she and Dr. Larson were also the first father-daughter team to do so.)
Now in her twenties and a Stanford graduate, Samantha is a freelance journalist in Seattle who has spoken widely about her experiences to women's and youth groups. Dr. Larson maintains his obstetric-anesthesiology practice in Long Beach, California, where Samantha grew up -- and though they don't get as many opportunities these days as they used to, the pair still love to climb together.

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