San Francisco, CA – Renowned adventurer Alison Levine made history by becoming one of the few Americans to complete the Adventure Grand Slam — climbing the highest peak on each continent (Denali, Aconcagua, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro, Vinson Massif, Carstensz Pyramid, Everest) and skiing to both the North and South Poles. What makes this achievement even more remarkable is that Levine was born with a life-threatening heart defect that prohibited her from even climbing stairs, but after successful heart surgery she started climbing mountains and hasn’t slowed down since.n”Fewer than 300 people have succeeded in climbing to the summit of the highest peak of every continent. Very few of those people have also reached the two poles, completing the Adventure Grand Slam,” said Harry Kikstra, director of 7summits.com. “Alison’s achievement is even more impressive since she not only skied the last degree to the North Pole, but also skied the entire 600-mile Messner Route to the South Pole, becoming the first American to do so. She completed this 38-day arduous journey by skiing for 10 hours a day in sub-zero temperatures with a sled containing 150 pounds of gear and supplies harnessed to her waist.”

Her story is awe-inspiring and noteworthy on many levels, not only because her recent Everest expedition is the one that completed her Grand Slam bid, but also because the climb was in memory of her friend, Meg Berte Owen, who passed away in October ’09 from a lung infection at age 37. In her honor, Levine engraved Owen’s name on her ice axe and planted it at the summit when she reached the top.

Levine currently serves as an adjunct professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York, where she teaches cadets about leading teams in extreme environments. She also runs the Climb High Foundation, a non-profit focused on improving the lives of women in war-torn areas of Uganda by training them to work as porters and trekking guides in their local mountains.