Woman, 19, becomes youngest ever Australian to scale Mt Everest – and she did it with her mum, 62
- Keen Aussie climber reaches heights of Mount Everest with her mum, 62, in tow
- The 19-year-old avid adventurer is the youngest Aussie to reach those heights
- She said trekking the challenging path together with her mum strengthened her
A Melbourne woman has reached the top of Mount Everest to become the youngest Aussie to scale the world’s highest peak – and she brought her mum along with her.
Gabby Kanizay, 19, and her mum Jane, 62, reached one of the highest altitudes in the world on Saturday before hanging around to take in the sunrise.
The pair made the summit around 9am Australian time and spent about 15 to 25 minutes at the top checking out the breathtaking views.
Gabby Kanizay (right) and her mum, Jane (left) at the Everest summit on Saturday
Ms Kanizay (pictured) was ‘literally on top of the world’ on Saturday, and was keen to keep going, ascending neighbouring mountain Lhotse in another 21-hour journey
The keen adventurer told Nine News she and her mum found strength in each other during the gruelling trek over wide crevices and up steep, icy inclines.
‘We definitely helped each other stay strong, and helped each other get to the summit,’ Ms Kanizay said. ‘It was just the most amazing feeling, just to know that you are literally on top of the world … I love being on the mountains, I love pushing my body.’
The successful expedition first started when the young explorer had the dream of climbing to the 8,850 metre peak at the age of 14, and has been training ever since.
The teen started off traipsing up smaller peaks closer to home, including the 4,000-metre Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, before doing expeditions to higher pinnacles across The Himalayas.
In 2019 the then-16-year-old youngster broke a record at the 8,201-metre Cho Oyu peak on the Nepal-China border, becoming the youngest woman in the world to summit the mountain.
She scaled the summit – the sixth highest peak in the world – with the help of her parents and climbing team.
After ascending Mount Everest, the keen mountaineer continued on a 21-hour journey to neighboring peak, Lhotse – the fourth highest peak in the world – reaching its summit on Sunday.
Father Jarrod Kanizay said it was a ‘monster effort’ and he was proud of her.
‘She does have an energy about her that allows her to stick to her guns and follow through, nothing is absolute, certainly not with Everest,’ Mr Kanizay told Nine News.
The keen adventurer can’t get enough of the mountain life, and said ‘I love being on the mountains, I love pushing my body’
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