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Taiwanese ‘Bikini Climber’ Dies on 25-Day Solo Hike

Bikini Climber Gigi Wu
Gigi Wu. Photo: Gigi Wu/Facebook

A woman who posed at the top of summits in bikinis and was known as the “Bikini Climber” has died, according to Taiwan News. Gigi Wu was 36.

The amateur climber was on a planned 25-day hike in Yushan National Park in Taiwan’s Nantou County when she fell; she reportedly called rescue services on Saturday, but the search and rescue teams were delayed by bad weather. They reached her body on Monday, January 21, following a night when the temperature reached a freezing point, the BBC reports. A cause of death has not officially been released.

According to Focus Taiwan, the Nantou Fire Department said that Wu did not have a permit for hiking the Batongguan Historic Trail, a centuries-old path that typically takes hikers about seven days to finish.

Wu regularly posted photos of herself wearing bikinis at the summits of her climbs. She explained in a 2018 interview that she posted her first photo after losing a bet over four years ago, and had since completed at least 100 climbs and worn 97 different bathing suits. The BBC notes that Wu only wore her bikinis after finishing the climb; other photos from her popular Facebook page show her in full climbing gear.

BuzzFeed notes that she last posted a photo to her Facebook on Thursday.

Taiwanese ‘Bikini Climber’ Dies on 25-Day Solo Hike