A record 274 climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest in a single day on Wednesday, as mountaineers rushed to take advantage of a brief stretch of clear weather on the world's tallest peak.
Nepalese officials confirmed a new record for Everest's southern route, with hundreds making the push toward the summit before conditions deteriorate later in the season.
Among them was 18-year-old Melbourne student Bianca Adler, who became the youngest Australian to summit Everest.
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"We just got news that Bianca is at the summit of Mt Everest!" her mother, Fiona Adler, wrote on the family blog on the day.
Hours later, Bianca shared an audio update while descending back down the mountain.
"I feel pretty awful," she said.
"I still have to go to camp 2. I'm just resting, just trying to take it one step at a time."
https://www.instagram.com/p/DYj2yMpScMV/
To avoid getting caught behind crowds in extreme cold, Bianca began the final stretch overnight while it was still dark.
Her mother described it as "a small price to pay for a safe and successful summit".
The Victorian teenager overtakes fellow Melbourne climber Gabby Kanizay, who previously held the record after summiting Everest at age 19 in 2022.
Bianca, a VCE student at St Leonard's College in Brighton East, has spent years climbing peaks across the Himalayas, Alps and Andes after growing up around the French Alps.
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Last year, she became the youngest female climber to summit Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest mountain.
Her Everest success comes less than a year after she was forced to turn back about five hours short of the summit due to brutal weather conditions.
Nepalese authorities said nearly 500 climbers and a similar number of Sherpa guides are expected to attempt Everest before the climbing season ends later this month.
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