Melissa Arnot Reid is an American mountain guide who, on 23 May 2016, became the first American woman to summit Mount Everest and descend safely without supplemental oxygen. It was her sixth Everest summit, at the time the most by any Western woman, and it came after several failed attempts going back to 2009.
She is also co-founder of The Juniper Fund, a charity supporting the families of Nepali mountain workers killed on the job, and author of the 2025 memoir Enough: Climbing Toward a True Self on Mount Everest. This profile covers her life and climbing record using verified sources, and corrects some errors that circulate online.
Melissa Arnot Reid: key facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 December 1983, in Colorado, USA |
| Grew up | Colorado, then Whitefish, Montana |
| Profession | Mountain guide, speaker and author |
| Everest summits | 6 (five via Nepal’s South Col route, one via the Tibetan north side) |
| Record | First American woman to summit and descend Everest without supplemental oxygen, 23 May 2016 |
| Mount Rainier | More than 100 summits; guided there since 2004 |
| 50 Peaks Challenge | All 50 US state high points in 41 days, 16 hours and 10 minutes (2016, with Maddie Miller) |
| Charity | Co-founded The Juniper Fund in 2012 with David Morton |
| Book | Enough: Climbing Toward a True Self on Mount Everest (Penguin Random House, April 2025) |
| Family | Married to mountain guide Tyler Reid; lives in Washington’s Methow Valley |
Early life: Colorado and Montana
Melissa Arnot was born on 18 December 1983 in Colorado. Her family later moved to Whitefish, Montana, just outside Glacier National Park.
Her upbringing was not easy. Her memoir describes a difficult childhood and strained family relationships. She did not grow up in a climbing family, and by her own account only started climbing in her late teens.
Glacier National Park was where she first discovered the mountains. Early on she trained as a wilderness first responder and began teaching wilderness medicine, skills that would become central to her guiding work and to the role she later played on Everest.
Mount Rainier and a career in guiding
Melissa first climbed Mount Rainier in Washington State in 2001, a climb she has described as a turning point. She began guiding on the mountain with Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. (RMI) in 2004 and was a lead guide by 2006. She has since stood on Rainier’s summit more than 100 times.
Rainier is the training ground for many American high-altitude climbers. At 4,392m (14,410ft) it is heavily glaciated and demands crevasse rescue, rope and crampon skills, which makes it a natural step towards the Himalaya.
From there her guiding expanded to Everest, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro and peaks in South America and Nepal. In 2010 she led the “Summit on the Summit” climb of Kilimanjaro, a clean-water awareness expedition with musicians and public figures that aired as an MTV special.
Everest: five summits with oxygen
Melissa’s Everest career began in 2008, when she joined the Everest Team Inspi(RED) with Jeff Dossett and David Morton, an expedition promoting HIV/AIDS awareness. She went on to guide clients to the summit in several seasons, and by 2013 ESPN was reporting that she had reached the top five times, all via the South Col route on the Nepal side.
In 2012 her sponsors promoted her as holding the record for the most Everest summits by a woman. That was wrong: Lhakpa Sherpa already had six, and the claim was withdrawn. It is worth stressing because older web pages still repeat it. Lhakpa now has 11 summits (as of May 2026).
The 2013 Lhotse Face confrontation
In April 2013 a dispute broke out on the Lhotse Face between a group of Sherpa rope-fixers and three European climbers, Ueli Steck, Simone Moro and Jonathan Griffith. It escalated into a violent confrontation at Camp 2. Melissa was widely credited with stepping in and helping to defuse the situation before anyone was seriously hurt.
The incident became a turning point in discussions about the treatment and pay of Sherpa workers on Everest, a subject she would take up through The Juniper Fund.
Climbing Everest without supplemental oxygen
Climbing above 8,000m without bottled oxygen is a different undertaking from a standard guided ascent. The air on the summit holds roughly a third of the oxygen available at sea level, and high-altitude doctors have long pointed out that the death rate for climbers going without bottled oxygen is several times higher than for those using it.
The road to a no-oxygen summit
| Year | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 2009 | First no-oxygen plan; a leg injury on the walk to Base Camp ruled it out |
| 2013 | Turned to bottled oxygen at about 8,504m (27,900ft) after becoming cold while helping another climber |
| 2014 | Season ended after the Khumbu Icefall avalanche that killed 16 Nepali mountain workers |
| 2015 | Season ended by the April 2015 Nepal earthquake and Base Camp avalanche |
| 2016 | Summit without supplemental oxygen, 23 May, via the north side |
The table shows the attempts most widely reported. The 2013 attempt, when she chose oxygen after stopping to help someone else, is the episode most interviews return to.
23 May 2016: the summit
In 2016 Melissa kept the attempt quiet, telling few sponsors or family members and approaching from the Tibetan north side for the first time. She climbed with Tyler Reid, then her fiancé. After roughly 14 hours of climbing she reached the summit on 23 May 2016, aged 32, without supplemental oxygen, and descended safely to camp at about 7,600m.
National Geographic described her as only the seventh woman to summit and descend Everest without supplemental oxygen. She was not the first American woman to reach the top without it: Francys Arsentiev did so in 1998 but died on the descent. Melissa is therefore usually described, precisely, as the first American woman to summit and survive without supplemental oxygen.
The 50 Peaks Challenge
A few weeks after Everest, Melissa set out with endurance athlete Maddie Miller to climb the highest point in each of the 50 US states. Starting on Denali in Alaska on 27 June 2016 and finishing on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, they completed the challenge in 41 days, 16 hours and 10 minutes.
GearJunkie reported this as the fastest known time for anyone, and Maddie Miller became the first woman to finish in under 50 days.
The Juniper Fund
In 2012 Melissa co-founded The Juniper Fund with fellow guide David Morton. It was inspired in part by the death of her friend and climbing partner Chhewang Nima Sherpa, who was killed in an avalanche on Baruntse in 2010.
The fund provides long-term support to the families of Nepali high-altitude workers who die or are disabled on the job. In February 2026 the Himalayan Times reported that The Juniper Fund had committed US$450,000 (about £337,500) to a three-year livelihood and skills programme, run in Nepal with the Shangri-La Nepal Foundation, alongside full scholarships for 73 students in Grades 11 and 12. More than 76 bereaved families and over 300 people had benefited from the programme by then.
If you trek in the Everest region, you will meet the families this work supports. Choosing a trekking company that pays fair wages and insures its porters and guides is one practical way travellers can help; our safety tips for trekking in Nepal cover what to ask.
Enough: the 2025 memoir
Melissa’s memoir, Enough: Climbing Toward a True Self on Mount Everest, was published by Penguin Random House on 1 April 2025. It runs to around 300 pages.
The book is less a climbing log than a personal story. It covers her difficult childhood, her rise through the guiding world, the deaths of mentors and friends, and how failing near the summit pushed her to rethink her relationship with achievement. Its central theme, as the title suggests, is self-acceptance.
Personal life and where she is now
Melissa married Tyler Reid, a fellow mountain guide based in Washington State, and took the name Arnot Reid. The couple live in the Methow Valley in north-central Washington with their family.
As of 2025–2026 she continues to guide, speak publicly and run The Juniper Fund, and has been touring with her book. We have found no reports of a further Everest attempt after 2016.
Melissa Arnot Reid and other Everest record-holders
| Climber | Everest summits | Notable for |
|---|---|---|
| Melissa Arnot Reid | 6 | First American woman to summit and descend without supplemental oxygen (2016) |
| Lhakpa Sherpa | 11 (May 2026) | Most Everest ascents by a woman |
| Ang Rita Sherpa | 10 | Most Everest ascents without bottled oxygen |
| Dave Hahn | 15 | One of the most experienced Western Everest guides |
| Kami Rita Sherpa | 32 (May 2026) | Most Everest ascents by anyone |
Walking in her footsteps
Five of Melissa’s six summits were via the Nepal side, which begins at Everest Base Camp. You can trek there without any climbing experience. The Everest Base Camp trek takes around 12 to 14 days and climbs gradually through Sherpa villages such as Namche Bazaar.
Preparation matters more than talent. Our guides on how to train for Everest Base Camp and altitude sickness on Everest explain how to get ready, and our Everest Base Camp trek is run with licensed Nepali agencies.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Melissa Arnot Reid?
An American mountain guide, speaker and author. In 2016 she became the first American woman to summit Everest and descend safely without supplemental oxygen. She co-founded The Juniper Fund and wrote the memoir Enough (2025).
How many times has Melissa Arnot climbed Everest?
Six times. Her first five summits were via the South Col route in Nepal, using supplemental oxygen; her sixth, on 23 May 2016, was via the north side without it.
Was Melissa Arnot the first American woman to climb Everest without oxygen?
She was the first American woman to summit and descend without supplemental oxygen. Francys Arsentiev reached the summit without oxygen in 1998 but died on the way down.
Who is Melissa Arnot’s husband?
Tyler Reid, a mountain guide from Washington State. He climbed with her on Everest in 2016, and they now live in the Methow Valley.
What is Melissa Arnot Reid’s book called?
Enough: Climbing Toward a True Self on Mount Everest, published by Penguin Random House in April 2025.
What is The Juniper Fund?
A US-based charity co-founded in 2012 by Melissa Arnot Reid and David Morton. It supports the families of Nepali mountain workers who are killed or disabled at work, including through livelihood programmes and scholarships.
What was the 50 Peaks Challenge?
In summer 2016 Melissa and Maddie Miller climbed the highest point in all 50 US states in 41 days, 16 hours and 10 minutes, reported as the fastest known time.
How old is Melissa Arnot Reid?
She was born on 18 December 1983, so she is 42 as of October 2026.
