LaMotte Sponsors Local Woman’s Climb of Mt. Everest in Historic Completion of Seven Summits
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In 2024, LaMotte proudly sponsored the climbing expedition to Mt. Everest for Philadelphia businesswoman Megan Rath in her bid to complete the “Seven Summits.” This sponsorship created a unique opportunity to support a historic mountaineering accomplishment while also demonstrating the robust and easy-to-use LaMotte Spin Touch®, even in harsh conditions around the world.
First completed only 40 years ago in 1985, the Seven Summits challenge requires climbing the tallest mountain on every continent.1 Membership in this elite club is highly exclusive, with an estimated 500 climbers ever completing the feat and only around twenty percent of those being women.2
Rath’s climb to the summit of these seven peaks started in November 2016 when she met fellow climber Sangeeta Bahl on a trek to visit Everest Base Camp. At age 53, Bahl later became the oldest Indian female to summit Mt. Everest, and their relationship continues to this day. Bahl’s drive for mountaineering even in the harshest conditions inspired Rath to begin her own epic adventure.3
Following this inspirational spark, Rath poured everything into the project, investing countless hours of training, undergoing multiple knee surgeries, and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on training, travel, supplies and logistics.
Later in 2024, Rath completed the Seven Summits challenge by climbing Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia. Her perseverance showed through again, as this expedition challenged her with debilitating food poisoning and logistical challenges of accessing the extremely remote mountain. In the end, Rath successfully summitted the peak which had been previously closed to climbers for five years.
Spread over six years, Rath’s journey to the Seven Summits was as follows:
- Africa: Kilimanjaro – 19,340 feet (January 2018)
- Europe: Mount Elbrus – 18,510 feet (July 2019)
- Antarctica: Mount Vinson – 16,050 feet (December 2022)
- North America: Mount McKinley – 20,320 feet (May 2023)
- South America: Aconcagua – 22,837 feet (December 2023)
- Asia: Mount Everest – 29,032 feet (May 2024)
- Australasia/Oceania: Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid) – 16,023 feet (October 2024)
LaMotte Sponsorship Enables Seven Summits Success and Scientific Research
LaMotte, a leading water analysis equipment company based in Maryland and Delaware, proudly supported Rath as the sole corporate sponsor of her pursuit of the Seven Summits. Starting in 2024 for Rath’s summit of Everest, LaMotte provided financial support to help make her dream come true.
Scott Amsbaugh, President & CEO of LaMotte, explained, “Megan’s journey has been inspirational to so many, and LaMotte is proud to walk alongside her in this historic accomplishment. It was awesome to see the LaMotte Spin Touch® go along on this journey, be used in such harsh conditions, and bring some insight into the purity of the snow and drinking water from these remote locations.”
| Using the WaterLink® Spin Touch® to test water quality at Everest Base Camp |
Water Analysis at the Source of Half the World Freshwater
During her summits of both Mt. Everest and Carstensz Pyramid, Rath carried a LaMotte Spin Touch®, an advanced product that analyzes precise water chemistry in just 60 seconds. As documented more deeply in this research article, Rath and a fellow climber gathered snow samples at multiple altitudes on both the north and south sides of Mt. Everest. Once melted, Rath performed testing on site and later transported the remaining samples back to LaMotte headquarters in Newark, Delaware for further analysis. While at Carstensz Pyramid, Rath similarly collected water from an alpine lake used for drinking water and returned samples to the states for testing.
| Using the WaterLink® Spin Touch® to test water quality at Carstensz Pyramid |
Analysis of the water samples from both mountains are shown below, and results confirmed that the water quality was extremely pure, similar to distilled drinking water. These results are very encouraging, especially for Mt. Everest, which is part of the 1,500 mile Himalaya mountain range. Described by National Geographic as the “water towers of the world,” these mountains provide “half of the world’s population with freshwater,” with ten major rivers originating in the Himalaya and supplying “freshwater to 1.3 billion people living in [their] watershed.”4
| Average readings | pH | Total Alkalinity | T Hard | T Iron | Ferrous | Ferric | Copper | Nitrite | Nitrate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everest South Side | 5.74 | 29 | 30 | 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.0 | 0.01 | 0 |
| Everest North Side | 7.17 | 41 | 32 | 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.0 | 0.01 | 0 |
| Carstensz Pyramid | 7.66 | 63 | 28 | 0.03 | 0.00 | 0.03 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Learnings From the Top of the World
Following her successful entry in the elite Seven Summits club, Rath has now shifted her focus to the next adventure in the Himalaya taking place Fall 2025. But her sights are not solely focused on climbing as she reflects on learnings from the years-long journey.
“I don’t want to survive… I want to thrive!” explains Rath. “I want to become the person capable of achieving my goals and aspirations. This doesn’t happen without hard work, dedication and loyal partners that climb alongside me. I look forward to the next adventure, and I am encouraged that our water and Earth remain healthy and resilient in this vital region of the world.”
To learn more, explore the analysis of water testing results on Mt. Everest and Carstensz Pyramid.
1 https://www.npr.org/2019/06/05/728761498/the-summit-is-never-the-goal-why-climbers-pursue-the-7-summits
2 https://7summits.com/info/7stats/statistics_all_basic.php
3 https://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/stories/summit-training-at-the-cricket-club,32897
4 https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/living-mount-everest-watershed/