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Julia Lyubova has 10 years of mountaineering experience, but summiting Mount Everest proved to be a challenge unlike any other

On her ascent, the Alpine expert, 44, started to experience cold symptoms; as she climbed down, her sore throat became something worth an emergency helicopter rescue

Lyubova documented her climb up the world's tallest mountain on her Instagram page, where she regularly shares mountain content for over 55,000 followers

Julia Lyubova admits that she went to Mount Everest with the "wrong mentality," but on the other side of the climb, she was all too aware of how much it takes to summit the world's highest mountain.

"I think I underestimated the mountain in terms of how big it is," the mountaineer, 44, tells PEOPLE months after her two-month-long jou

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