Bianca Adler has become the youngest Australian to summit Mt Everest, reaching the top of the world’s highest peak at about 7am on Wednesday AEST after a final push that began while it was still dark.

The 18-year-old said from the summit that she felt physically great, but that she would soon start down because it was “a little bit cold and windy, and dark.” She was back at camp 4 by about 1pm Melbourne time, after starting the climb 14 hours earlier.

Her father, Paul, spoke to her over the radio as the family followed the ascent from afar. Fiona Adler said the family had just received word that Bianca was at the summit, adding that Paul had been able to speak with her and she sounded tired but “over the moon.” Fiona also said, “We’re all so proud of you and all the work you’ve put into this.”

The record had previously belonged to Gabby Kanizay, who reached the Everest summit in 2022 at 19. Adler’s climb gives Australia a new benchmark in a sport where age has become part of the story as much as endurance, weather and altitude.

For Adler, the achievement came after a failed attempt in June last year when she turned back about five hours shy of the summit because of intense winds and freezing conditions. During that effort she began showing early signs of frostbite. She had also already made history in 2024, when she became the youngest female to summit Manaslu at 16.

That earlier setback made Wednesday’s climb more than a simple record chase. Adler set off on the final leg while it was still dark and later said the descent was harder than the climb up, calling it “really tough.” At one point, she said she had to “gaslight myself into thinking it was just a light breeze.”

Adler is a VCE student at St Leonard’s College in Brighton East, and her background helps explain how she got here. Her parents are both skilled hikers who have conquered Everest, she grew up surrounded by the French Alps in Annecy and later trained in the Dandenongs. Even with that upbringing, the mountain still demanded a hard choice: keep going into brutal cold and darkness, or turn back again. This time, she went on.