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Australian makes history on Mount Everest at 18

By Sohail Khan 16 August 2026, 6:19 pm

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Business News›News›International›Global Trends›Bianca Adler turns Everest heartbreak into history: 18-year-old Australian returns a year after turning back 400 metres from summit to become youngest Australian woman to reach the top

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Bianca Adler turns Everest heartbreak into history: 18-year-old Australian returns a year after turning back 400 metres from summit to become youngest Australian woman to reach the top

Synopsis

Bianca Adler, an enterprising eighteen-year-old from Australia, has successfully summited Mount Everest, achieving a long-held dream after turning back just 400 meters shy on a previous attempt. With this triumph, she not only became the youngest Australian to conquer Everest but also built on her record as the youngest woman to summit Mount Manaslu. Now back in the classroom, Adler is focused on completing her Year 12 studies.

For Bianca Adler, reaching the summit of Mount Everest was not simply a matter of climbing higher. It was about finishing something she had been forced to leave unfinished. The 18-year-old from Melbourne reached the 8,849-metre summit at around 2:20am Nepal time, becoming the youngest Australian to summit Everest. Her historic climb came exactly one year after she had been forced to abandon her first attempt when she was just 400 metres from the top.

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The Everest summit that slipped away

Bianca’s connection with mountains began during her childhood in the French Alps. By the time she was a teenager, climbing had already become a major part of her life. She had reached the summits of Manaslu and Ama Dablam by the age of 16, building an impressive record at an unusually young age.

In May 2025, Bianca climbed to about 8,450 metres during her first attempt. The summit was tantalisingly close, but the conditions deteriorated rapidly.

Visibility disappeared as powerful winds whipped snow around her. Her hands and toes began to lose feeling, raising concerns about frostbite. “I couldn’t see anything; there was snow blowing everywhere,” she wrote after the attempt.

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The decision to turn around was devastating, but Bianca knew continuing could put her life at risk. “It was an extremely tough decision, but I always want to choose life over a potential summit.”

She made another attempt the following night but exhaustion eventually stopped her. The expedition became even more serious when Bianca and her father, Paul, were diagnosed with high-altitude pulmonary oedema and dehydration.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bianca Adler (@bianca_adler1)

Bianca spent a year preparing to return

Rather than walking away from Everest, Bianca used the setback as a reason to prepare differently. She returned to Nepal with Paul in April 2026 and spent weeks acclimatising before beginning the final phase of the expedition.

The pair moved through the mountain's camps while monitoring weather conditions and allowing their bodies to adjust to the extreme altitude.

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Eventually, Bianca was ready for another summit attempt. She left Camp 4 and climbed through the night, facing temperatures that fell to around -20 degrees Celsius. After roughly eight hours of climbing, the summit that had eluded her the previous year was finally within reach.

Then, she was standing at the top.

‘I feel really good up here actually’

Bianca contacted her father after reaching the summit and told him she was physically feeling strong despite the brutal conditions. “I feel really good up here actually, like physically I feel great,” she told Paul.

The weather, however, remained a concern. “I spoke to her on the summit and she said she was very cold, it was windy but she felt OK, and they were going to take some pictures quickly and get out of there…It’s extremely dangerous up there and you feel very nervous for your life,” Paul said.

Her mother, Fiona, understood the significance of reaching the summit early. Fiona herself had become the third Australian woman to summit Everest. The early arrival meant Bianca could climb at her own pace rather than becoming trapped in the long queues that can develop near the summit.

Getting to the top was not the end

For Everest climbers, reaching the summit is only one part of the challenge. Bianca still had to descend through the mountain's death zone, where oxygen levels are dangerously low and the human body cannot remain for long periods.

After making it back to Camp 4, she described the descent as considerably harder than the climb itself. “I feel pretty awful, but I still have to go to Camp 2,” she said.

“I’m just resting, I’m just trying to take it one step at a time.” She later reflected on the experience, saying: “It was so beautiful. Coming down was definitely a lot harder though. But, yes, it’s really tough.”

Her father was waiting at Camp 2, with the plan for the two to eventually descend together toward Base Camp.

A new Australian Everest record

Bianca’s successful ascent also put her name into Australian mountaineering history. She surpassed Gabby Kanizay, who was 19 when she reached Everest’s summit in 2022, to become the youngest Australian to accomplish the feat.

Yet Bianca has repeatedly suggested that records are not what drive her. “Climbing for me isn’t just about the views on the summit, it’s about pushing myself and training towards a goal.”

For her, Everest had been a dream since she first learned about the mountain. “I have dreamed of this moment ever since I first learnt about Everest, and I’m so happy everything went well.”

She also hopes her experience encourages other young people to take on challenges of their own. “I truly hope I can inspire more young people to do hard things, set big goals and work towards them!”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bianca Adler (@bianca_adler1)

Everest follows another remarkable achievement

Everest is only the latest milestone in Bianca’s young climbing career. In September 2025, she reached the true summit of Mount Manaslu, standing at 8,163 metres. The achievement made her the youngest woman in the world to summit the mountain.

Reflecting on that climb, she wrote: “This was the hardest thing I have ever done and I am so glad all of my training has paid off.” Now she has another challenge waiting at sea level.

Bianca still has to complete Year 12. “That’s going to be her next goal, is getting through year 12,” her father said.

From turning around just 400 metres below Everest’s summit to returning 12 months later and reaching the top, Bianca’s story is less about one extraordinary morning and more about what happened between the two attempts.

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