An 18-year-old Melbourne native has etched her name into Australian mountaineering history after successfully reaching the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, to claim the title of the nation’s youngest person to complete the formidable ascent.
Bianca Adler, a Year 12 student, touched the 8,848-meter (previously commonly cited as 8,200 meters in early reporting) summit in Nepal in the early hours of Wednesday local time, arriving at approximately 2:30 a.m. — which translated to 6:30 a.m. back in her Australian hometown. Immediately after securing her place in the history books, Adler placed a triumphant radio call to her father Paul, a seasoned mountaineer who accompanied her on the early stages of the expedition.
In the call, Adler shared that despite feeling generally well, she was contending with severe alpine conditions. “I feel really good, but the weather is really bad,” she told her father. Accompanied by her local Nepalese guides Pemba and Ngdu, Adler began her descent from the dangerous peak shortly after capturing quick photos at the summit, as the team prioritized a prompt exit from the high-altitude danger zone.
Speaking to Australian Broadcasting Corporation after the call, Paul Adler opened up about the risks that come with high-altitude Everest expeditions. “It’s extremely dangerous up there and you feel very nervous for your life,” he said, adding that his daughter reported extreme cold and strong wind when they spoke. Paul Adler himself climbed Everest in 2007, and Bianca’s mother Fiona Adler — who became the third Australian woman to summit Everest in a previous climb — also joined the pair for the early segments of the expedition.
Fiona Adler spoke of the family’s overwhelming pride in her daughter’s years-long effort to reach her goal. “She was very determined and motivated to do this. We are extremely proud of what she has done — just having a goal and a dream and working many years towards it. It is a very proud moment for us,” she said.
Before launching their final ascent attempt, the whole family spent a full month acclimatizing on lower Nepalese peaks and visiting Everest’s Camp 2, before a one-week rest period at Everest Base Camp to prepare their bodies for the extreme altitude. The final push began with a 1 a.m. departure through the dangerous Khumbu Icefall, after which the team rested at Camp 1. They proceeded onward to Camp 2, where Paul Adler ended his participation in the climb. Two nights later, Bianca Adler continued her push toward the summit alongside her guides.
Even as she made her way back down the mountain, Adler acknowledged the extreme physical toll of the expedition. In an audio recording shared after the summit, she said: “I feel pretty awful, but I still have to go to Camp 2. I’m just resting, I’m just trying to take it one step at a time. It’s really tough.”
Adler’s achievement breaks the previous record for the youngest Australian Everest summiter, which was held by Gabby Kanizay, who reached the peak at age 19 in 2022.