Erin Parisi, the Clarence native attempting to become the first transgender person to scale the tallest mountain on every continent, now has conquered four of the "Seven Summits."

On Saturday, Parisi reached the peak of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, at 22,841 feet the highest point in South America.

Even though it's summer in South America, the weather at high altitude – bitter temperatures and 50 mph winds – made 10 of the 15 climbers in her group decide to turn back.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever done," Parisi said in a statement released by TranSending7, the not-for-profit entity she established to raise funds for her quest.

"I wanted to turn around so badly. I didn't feel strong until the minute I saw the top of the mountain," said Parisi, who has climbed 18 mountains of more than 14,000 feet in Colorado.

Several mountaineers have scaled the "Seven Summits," as mountaineers call the list of the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents, but Parisi, 41, would be the first transgender athlete to do so.

Last year, she climbed the highest mountains in Australia, Africa and Europe.