Teenager Gabby Kanizay (19) from Melbourne has become the youngest Australian to climb Mt Everest. It took years of preparation and training before she was able to scale the 8,848m mountain, which straddles the border of China and Nepal. The trek took more than six weeks.
Gabby has said, that the best part of the trek was sharing it with her mother, Jane ( 52).
“Standing on top of the summit* together brought a tear to both of our eyes,” Kanizay said.
“We definitely had our moments but, overall, we made each other stronger and inspired each other to keep going.
“Now we will share that moment with each other for the rest of our lives.”
Gabby said, she had wanted to climb the mountain – and be the youngest Australian to do it – since she was 14.
“I’ve just always wanted to climb Everest – I have always really liked adventuring and exploring,” she said from the mountain’s base camp, a head-spinning 4500m above sea level.
“When I was 14, I was talking to my dad about life goals and Everest was one of them. Every step of the plan, I began to fall in love with the mountain.”
The preparation was tough, involving regular workouts at the gym and mountain hikes.
Before she reached its summit, Kanizay trekked to Mt Everest’s base camp in 2019 and also climbed Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth-highest mountain, 20km to the west. “Parts of it were harder than I thought it would be, but overall I think the mountain surprised me a lot,” Gabby said. “Next time, I would like to do a more challenging route. I think I had youth on my side.”
The record-breaking mountaineer is now heading to Europe to spend the next year travelling and exploring its alps.
“I don’t have anything specific in mind of what’s next, but I will climb whatever mountain draws me,” Ms Kanizay said.
“I love the mountains and I just want to keep climbing.”
Gabby Kanizay, also climbed Everest’s neighbour, Lhotse soon after her triumphant Everest climb.
At 8,516m, Lhotse is the world’s fourth-highest peak.
Any climb that passes 8,000m is considered “the death zone” because of the extreme conditions and low oxygen levels in the air.