Melbourne schoolgirl becomes youngest Australian to conquer Mount Everest

A Melbourne schoolgirl has become the youngest Australian to summit Mount Everest, after falling short of the peak last year.

Bianca Adler reached the summit of the world’s tallest mountain about 7am on Wednesday (AEST), her parents said via their blog and social media.

“We just got news that Bianca is at the summit of Mt Everest!” her mother, Fiona Adler, wrote on the blog. “Paul [her father] was able to speak on the radio to her and she sounded a bit tired, but over the moon!

“We’re all so proud of you and all the work you’ve put into this.”

Speaking to her father over the radio from the summit, the 18-year-old said she felt physically great, but that she would soon descend because it was “a little bit cold and windy, and dark”.

To avoid getting stuck in the cold behind other climbers, Bianca set off on the final leg of the journey while it was still dark, which her mother said was “a small price to pay for a safe and successful summit”.

In a post on social media around 1pm Melbourne time, Bianca said she’d made it back to camp 4, where she had started her climb 14 hours earlier.

“I feel pretty awful,” she said in an audio note, her voice faint. “I still have to go to camp 2, I’m just resting, just trying to take it one step at a time.

“Coming down was definitely a lot harder than going up… yeah, it’s really tough.”

The previous record for youngest Australian to summit Mount Everest was held by Gabby Kanizay, from Brighton in Melbourne, who reached the summit in 2022 when she was 19.

Growing up surrounded by the French Alps in the town of Annecy, Bianca dreamt of climbing the Himalayas and joined her father on hikes through the nearby mountains. Her parents – both skilled hikers who have conquered Everest – inspired her love of the outdoors, and she spent much of her childhood rock climbing, canoeing and bike riding.

The family eventually returned to Melbourne and Bianca trained in the Dandenongs while she continued to seek out the world’s highest peaks across the Andes, Alps and Himalayas. She is a VCE student at St Leonard’s College in Brighton East.

In 2024, as a 16-year-old, she became the youngest female to summit Manaslu, the world’s eighth-tallest mountain.

Her triumph on Wednesday morning came less than 12 months after a failed attempt. In June last year, Bianca was forced to abandon an attempt about five hours shy of the summit, because of intense winds and freezing conditions. She said she had tried to “gaslight myself into thinking it was just a light breeze”, but she started showing early signs of frostbite and her Sherpas suggested they turn back.

“We had Dad on the radio and I made the call,” she wrote on her blog. “I did cry a bit in that moment, when I knew I wouldn’t make it.

“I still had another five hours at least to go, but I felt so close. I decided to turn around, and cried for the next 30 minutes as we descended.”

Hiking in the “death zone” – from 8000 metres above sea level – took a toll on her health. At that height, the air contains about one-third the amount of oxygen found at sea level and is not survivable for extended periods of time. Bianca lost muscle mass due to malnutrition and overtraining, and her breathing was shaky for several days.

In a viral social media video posted after she had spent three days in the death zone, a raspy-voiced and hyperventilating Bianca said she was “feeling the worst I have ever felt”.

“My throat and lungs … I’m so out of breath,” she said.

By midday on Wednesday, she had descended about halfway from Everest’s summit to camp four, safely making it past the most treacherous stretch of the mountain.

“It still might be slow going, depending on how many people are up there, though,” her mother said.

Her father told ABC Radio shortly before 1pm that it was an anxious wait as Bianca made the descent. “If you put one foot wrong, you are dead,” he said.

“She’s only just gone below 8000 metres. We haven’t been able to speak to her.

“She can send us little texts on a satellite tracker she’s got. That’s all.”

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