Since 1953, approximately 4,000 people have climbed Mount Everest and over 200 have died trying. At 2 a.m. on May 19, 2006, Danenburg became the first African American and first black woman to make it to the summit. Hampered by bad weather, bronchitis and frostbite, she nonetheless climbed into the history books atop the world’s tallest mountain. The native of Illinois is a graduate of Harvard and a Fullbright fellow who completed her first major climb just four years before her assault on Mount Everest. At the age of 34, she made it to the top after two months of climbing and stands as a True First in the lore of this legendary peak.