LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – Whether through the hawk that greeted her at Freel Peak, or the sunrise on Granite Chief, the Tahoe mountains continue to hold Alison Hardy’s family close.

“They’re in every beautiful moment that is up on those mountains,” she said, “and that’s why I keep coming back.”

Hardy lost her father at the age of 12, her mother at 17 and her brother at 19. “It’s been 25 years since I lost them,” Hardy said, “but it still hurts every day.”

Hardy was born and raised in Carnelian Bay. Her father was a ski patrol member at Palisades Tahoe (then Squaw Valley), and her mother was a local school bus driver. From Christmas mornings to running around the woods as a kid, Tahoe, the mountains and memories of her family are inseparable.

“Tahoe really holds my heart. It’s where I’ve been healing my whole life,” she said. “Grief is a huge driving factor in why I do a lot of what I do in the mountains and why I won’t leave.”

An avid backpacker, hiker and experienced distance runner, Hardy has a long list of activities and accomplishments born in the mountains. She was also a competitive and sponsored snowboarder throughout her twenties, and is now a backcountry ski enthusiast and CrossFit and yoga instructor who has served the Tahoe, Truckee and Carson basins.

On October 4, she became the first female to complete the Tahoe Five Peaks challenge, a test of both physical endurance and the human spirit.

“This is a great challenge to show what you’re made of,” Hardy said, “and to also get to experience Tahoe and its best.”

In the challenge, participants summit five peaks in the Tahoe basin—Mt Rose, Granite Chief, Mt Tallac, Freel Peak, and Genoa Peak—racing against the clock to complete the endeavor in 24 hours.

Athletes not only have to overcome one summit after the other (some in the dark), they must also resist the desire to sleep and rest, which deepens with each pounding mile.

It has been called the hardest day hike in America, at 50.94 miles and 14,036 feet of elevation gain.

Hardy attempted it for the first time on September 12, but faced high winds, delays from a traffic accident and other setbacks, falling just short of the 24-hour cutoff.

Exhausted and despairing after the near finish, she recalls saying, “I’m never doing this again.”

“And then within 10 hours, I was like, ‘okay, when are we going to do it again?'”

She contemplated waiting another year before her next attempt, “but that gives another woman 365 days to go and do this,” she had thought.

“There’s a little bit of ego and competitiveness,” she said laughing, “in wanting to be able to be the first at something.”

So, just a few weeks later, Hardy embarked on her second attempt. She carried forward vital lessons from her first attempt, like using poles on certain summits, drinking more water between peaks, and found ways to be quicker.

Although encountering less wind and traffic obstacles, Hardy felt the physical impacts more significantly this second time around. “I was two mountains ahead in soreness on my body,” she recalled.

She doesn’t typically take painkillers, but describes them as her savior on this second attempt: “I could say I was sponsored by ibuprofen.”

Hiking up the hills and running the downhills, Hardy pushed through her angry hips and calves. “Endurance athletes are really, really good at pushing past that mounting need to stop and just keep going,” she said. “I get uncomfortable, and I push harder.”

She digs into her resilience, built from her past to push her forward. “On Freel, the first time, I thought to myself, ‘this isn’t as painful as not having a family,'” she said, adding, “Life is a mountain. You keep going up, and then you go down, and you go up. And then, some days you climb, some days you’re skiing down, some days you’re crawling down.”

Nearly crawling on Genoa Peak, Hardy finished her second attempt in 23 hours and 26 minutes with a hike time of 19 hours and 22 minutes.

One of Hardy’s pacers, Candice Harris, who originally intended to pace the first two peaks with Hardy, continued to the third peak, Tallac. Still feeling well enough, she continued onto Freel and finally Genoa Peak, becoming the second woman to complete the challenge.

The accomplishment brought the two closer. “We kind of knew each other before,” Hardy said, “but now we have this connection.”

For Hardy, the T5 challenge was an opportunity to prove her strength to herself and others, reminding her of what she has endured and overcome.

“Grief is not linear, but being in nature serves as a constant reminder to keep moving forward,” she said. “While nothing can bring my family back, I am dedicated to living fully in remembrance of them.”

Through tears, she gave a shout-out to her family, Susan, David, and Carson, and thanked them for being her spirit through it all. “I know my family’s with me when I do these things.”

To learn more or to sign up for the Tahoe 5 Peaks Challenge, visit tahoe5peaks.com.