With a win over Brisbane in Sunday's preliminary final, they can take their first glimpse of the summit.
In 2021, the Panthers adopted the theme "Climbing Everest" as a source of internal motivation on the run through the finals, likening the almighty challenge of reaching premiership glory to scaling the tallest mountain on earth.
That year, the Panthers needed to overcome the grand-final heartbreak of 2020, injuries to key men at the back-end of the season, COVID-19 bubble restrictions and a week-one finals loss to break their 18-year premiership drought.
Plenty has been made of the three consecutive premiership seasons that followed that initial triumph; no team in a salary-cap era had ever won four premierships in a row.
But not since that initial climb of Everest have Penrith been forced to handle as much adversity as in their pursuit of a fifth straight title.
Having farewelled two of their dynasty's architects in Jarome Luai and James Fisher-Harris, the Panthers nosedived into last on the ladder after round 12 this year as they negotiated structural changes to the team.
A nine-game winning streak lifted them to an unlikely finals berth with a seventh-place finish to the regular season.
But that left the Panthers to take a tougher route through finals, without a home game at any point, nor a week's rest for winning a week-one qualifying final.
Hosting a grand-final qualifier after a week off, the Broncos' path has been far smoother than the Panthers', which has wound from Auckland to Sydney and Brisbane in three weeks.
"I've experienced both," said Brisbane coach Michael Maguire.
"It is a big advantage where we are at the moment. I've had all the players train every day this week. That's really good signs for putting in the best performance."
But Penrith co-captain Nathan Cleary noted the similarities to that 2021 finals series, when the Panthers went the long way around after an upset loss to South Sydney in week one.
"It's pretty similar," the Penrith halfback said.
"The guys that were there in 2021 can sort of lean on that experience and know that it's possible to do it.
"It was a bit different in the first round (in 2021) because we actually had a loss, so trying to bounce back from that and still being able to get the job done was really pleasing."
Just as it was in the 2021, a grand-final qualifier at Suncorp Stadium looms as the biggest obstacle yet on the Panthers' climb.
That season, the Panthers muscled their way to a 10-6 defeat of minor premiers Melbourne to progress through to the decider that kickstarted their run.
The Storm win remains one of the finest hours of their dynasty, with the 14-12 grand-final defeat of South Sydney a week later their only finals match at Suncorp Stadium since.
"Obviously they're good ones," co-captain Isaah Yeo said of his memories from playing big games at Suncorp Stadium.
"We've had some boys now play in Origin deciders or just Origin games up here. Magic Round was a packed-out stadium as well, so it's not the unknown.
"It's not new to us that it's going to be a really big crowd, but that's what you want."
So too do Penrith have finals experience against the Broncos, who stand between the Panthers and a sixth consecutive grand final.
But it isn't just that unforgettable 2023 grand final win over Brisbane that has taught the Panthers how to take the next steps in their climb.
"We lean on our experience in previous finals games, not just that one, but throughout the last four or five years," Cleary said.
"But it's a new game, what's happened in the past means nothing really. It's about recreating it."
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