SEATTLE — Lisa Thompson is no stranger to challenges — in fact, she welcomes them. After climbing Mount Rainier in 2009, she was instantly hooked. The mountains didn't stop calling and she kept answering, sharing each summit adventure on her online blog.
Thompson climbed six more mountains by 2015, including Mount Elbrus in Russia, and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
"I think a lot of people overlook that every mountain is a physical and a mental pursuit," she said.
That mental resilience she learned from the mountains unexpectedly served her well about five years later when Thompson received a breast cancer diagnosis.
She expected the diagnosis to throw a wrench in her plans, including climbing the Himalayas that fall. Instead, it gave her a new wind.
"I was very determined to not let cancer define what my life was about," she said.
Not only did Thompson beat cancer, she crushed the recovery process in time to climb the Himalayas as she originally planned that fall.
That's not where her story ends. After her battle with cancer, Thompson found a strength she didn't realize she had in her. Prior to cancer, Thompson had no aspirations of climbing the tallest mountain or leaving her secure corporate career.
A year later, Mount Everest was another victory in her book and she learned so much from all her summits, that she decided to literally put them into a book.
Stepping down from her corporate career helped Thompson turn her biggest passion into passion projects. Today she speaks to audiences about the lessons the mountains taught her that were the same lessons she leaned on through her cancer diagnosis.
Additionally, you can see Thompson in the Emmy-nominated documentary, "Capturing Everest."
She can't wait to share her adventures in even more detail in her book, "Finding Elevation", which comes out Jan. 10.
"Part of me writing a book and sharing my story is I want people to know that we are all capable of so much more than we think we are," she said.
And of course, Thompson still finds time to climb her heart out. After all, it is the hobby turned career that's taken her life to new elevations and then some.
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