Local Teen Aims to Break National Climbing Record

Saline native Anna Tukin is setting out to make history as the youngest American girl to summit Mount Elbrus, Europe’s highest mountain. The record is currently held by Lucy Westgate, who climbed Elbrus at 15 years, 7 months and 3 days old. Anna will be 15 years and 2 months when she plans to climb the mountain.

“I didn’t even realize that,” Anna said on finding out the record. “I just started doing my research on it. I just got curious. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m gonna beat the record by like, five months or something. Wow!’”

Raised in a family of travelers, Anna first began hiking and mountaineering in earnest only a few years ago with her mother, Zhanna Tukin. According to Anna, hiking had never “really appealed to her” until her mother began planning a trip to Mount Kilimanjaro three years ago.

“I discovered that I actually did like hiking,” Anna said. “I just like doing it a certain way, with groups of people.”

The discovery of her enjoyment of hiking came with a sense of confidence she earned during her trips, which are physically challenging and require intensive preparation.

“During the summit, I kept telling myself, ‘If you can take another step, you haven’t fully exhausted yourself,’” she said. “I think I tend to give up sometimes before I actually reach my limit. So I kind of also realized that about myself, that I do have more in me than I think. That I’m stronger than I really think. And also, just being out in nature on the mountains, completely cleared me mentally.”

Anna and her mother plan to begin their trip in June, getting on a plane the evening after Anna’s final exams. During the rest of the school year, Anna will balance schooling, sports, hiking, training and additional research on travel and gear requirements, “from boots to socks to pants to long sleeve shirts to three different types of coats.”

Anna plans to eventually climb the Seven Summits, conquering the highest mountains on each continent. Currently, she and her mother have reached the highest points in Africa and Australia, making Elbrus their third on the list.

“I’m not scared that I’m not gonna make or do it,” she said. “I try to have a mindset of when I make it, not if.”