Vanessa O'Brien

December 2, 1964

She climbed the highest mountain peak on each continent and has also skied the last degree (60 nautical miles or 111 km) to the South Pole in the Antarctic. As of March 2013, Vanessa became the fastest woman to climb the Seven Summits, in 10 months, one of only 54 to do so. Vanessa O'Brien continued to ski the last degree (60 nautical miles or 111 km) to the North Pole after being dropped off by the Russian staff at Barneo at 89 degrees North. She reached the North Pole 4.5 days later on April 16, 2013, making her the fastest woman to complete the Explorers Grand Slam in 11 months. In 2014, she carried Explorers Club Flag #206 to Manaslu's summit as part of a research study investigating nocturnal hypoxic exposure on high-altitude mountaineering. Vanessa Audi Rhys O'Brien was born on December 2, 1964 and grew up in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. The Explorer's Grand Slam entails reaching the Seven Summits, the North and South Poles, as well as meeting the Three Pole Challenge. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University and an Executive MBA in Finance from the Stern School of Business, New York University. During her professional career, Vanessa held London-based positions as the Director of Finance and Business Development for Bank of America's cr card division, Barclays Bank and Morgan Stanley. She also held senior roles in finance, strategic planning and business development at Capital One and GE Capital in the United States.

Vanessa O'Brien

Edit Profile

explorer

Education

New York University Stern School of Business.

Career

She climbed the highest mountain peak on each continent and has also skied the last degree (60 nautical miles or 111 km) to the South Pole in the Antarctic. As of March 2013, Vanessa became the fastest woman to climb the Seven Summits, in 10 months, one of only 54 to do so. Vanessa O'Brien continued to ski the last degree (60 nautical miles or 111 km) to the North Pole after being dropped off by the Russian staff at Barneo at 89 degrees North.

She reached the North Pole 4.5 days later on April 16, 2013, making her the fastest woman to complete the Explorers Grand Slam in 11 months. In 2014, she carried Explorers Club Flag #206 to Manaslu's summit as part of a research study investigating nocturnal hypoxic exposure on high-altitude mountaineering. Vanessa Audi Rhys O'Brien was born on December 2, 1964 and grew up in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.

The Explorer's Grand Slam entails reaching the Seven Summits, the North and South Poles, as well as meeting the Three Pole Challenge. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University and an Executive MBA in Finance from the Stern School of Business, New York University. During her professional career, Vanessa held London-based positions as the Director of Finance and Business Development for Bank of America's cr card division, Barclays Bank and Morgan Stanley.

She also held senior roles in finance, strategic planning and business development at Capital One and GE Capital in the United States.

Achievements

For this accomplishment she was listed in the 2015 Guinness Book of World Records. Having trekked to Mount Everest base camp and reached the summits of a number of notable mountains, including two of the world's fourteen 8,000 meter peaks (Shishapangma and Cho Oyu), she decided to build on her passion for mountaineering and set herself the challenge of achieving the Explorer's Grand Slam.

Membership

She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Member of The Explorers Club.

Main Photo

School period

College/University

Career

Achievements

Membership

Awards

Other Photos

Other photo of Vanessa O'Brien

Connections

Connections

Vanessa O'Brien

Education

Career

Achievements

Membership

Born

Ethnicity

Education