"I tried to be careful not to do anything dumb," she said. "For instance, before our summit attempt, some people thought it would be a good idea to go lower into the Khumbu to rest and recuperate before the final summit bid. But I decided not to go down to the tea houses before the summit climb because I didn't want to risk getting sick from the tea house food, or from the trekkers there."

Her success last spring followed that of a year ago on the opposite side of the mountain. In 2001, Miller reached the summit via the north side of the mountain, from Tibet, with a group from Russell Brice's guided expedition. Miller summitted with Sherpa climber Phurba on May 23, reaching the top at 9:30 a.m.

"I got to the summit without much trouble," Miller recalled. "I had a great day, and really enjoyed myself. We got to the top at 9:30, and got down safely, no problems. I think that's why I don't get much publicity. On my Everest climbs, there's no epic, there's no trouble. My expeditions are fun. I think it's easier for me because after years of running and adventure racing and climbing, I'm comfortable being uncomfortable. And, I know how to focus."

Miller said that after her first ascent, she became interested in the history of women climbers on the mountain. For that reason, she wanted to climb Everest by both routes because her goal is to eventually document the history of women climbing on Mount Everest. "I couldn't legitimately do that unless I had a clear understanding of both routes, the Northeast Ridge and the Southeast Ridge," Miller said.

In retrospect, Miller said that the climb to the summit from the Nepal side seems less difficult to her than the route from Tibet.

"To me, the south side is much easier," she said. "You start using oxygen much lower. The way the commercial operations are set up on the south side is there are people there to look after you, cook for you, generally make things easier. In Tibet, you're doing a lot of the work yourself. Finally, I think the route via the Southeast Ridge is technically easier. When climbing the Northeast Ridge on the north side, there was more of a feeling that you could fall here, with your crampons scraping on down-sloping rocks."

— Peter Potterfield, MountainZone.com Staff