Mumbai: Kaamya Karthikeyan, a 16-year-old class XII student of Navy Children School, Mumbai, and her father, Cdr S. Karthikeyan, successfully summited Mount Everest (8849 meters) and unfurled the tricolour on the peak on 20 May 2024.
Kaamya has become the second youngest girl in the world and the youngest Indian mountaineer to summit the world's highest peak from the Nepal side.
About The Climb Done By The Duo
The father and daughter started the expedition on 06 April 2024 from Kathmandu and it took them about seven weeks to summit Mount Everest. During the climb, lasting about one and a half months, the climbers face and overcome various challenges that include harsh weather conditions, crossing the dangerous Khumbu icefall, and making several trips to higher camps for acclimatisation. The route to the summit has four camps after the base camp, with the final climb starting from Camp 4 located in the death zone at an altitude of 7950m.
Kaamya Expresses Her happiness
Kaamya expressed her happiness about having scaled the highest peak in the world and said it was extra special to have climbed it with her mentor and guide - her dad. She said that climbing Everest together was her most cherished dream which has become a reality now.
About Kaamya's Passion For Mountaineering
Inspired by her father's mountaineering activities, Kaamya started trekking in the Sahyadri or Western Ghats at the young age of three. Her Himalayan journey began at the age of seven when she started trekking in the Himalayas with her mother to the height of Chandrashila Peak (12,000 feet) in 2015.
In 2016, she completed more difficult and higher treks like Har-ki-Doon (13,500 feet), Kedarkantha Peak (13,500 feet), and Roopkund Lake (16,400 feet). In May 2017, Kaamya trekked to Everest Base Camp in Nepal at an altitude of 17,600 feet and became the second youngest girl in the world at that time to achieve this feat.
In October 2017, at the age of just nine, Kaamya made headlines by climbing Mount Stok Kangri (20,187 feet). In May 2019, she successfully trekked to the famous Bhrigu Lake (14,100 feet) and crossed Sar Pass (13,850 feet) in Himachal Pradesh. She climbed the highly technical Mount Kang Yatse 1 (21,000 feet) under the auspices of TSAF.
Kaamya Conquers Mount Aconcagua
Kaamya surprised everyone by conquering Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America, in 2020 when she was only 12 years old, becoming the youngest girl in the world to do so. This peak is the highest outside Asia.
Kaamya has been awarded the prestigious Prime Minister's National Bal Shakti Puraskar, the highest national award for citizens under the age of 18, and has achieved many unprecedented mountaineering feats at a very young age.
Kaamya has exhibited immense courage and fortitude in summiting the highest peaks in six of the seven continents in her mission to scale the 7 summit (the highest peak of all seven continents). She aims to summit Mt. Vinson Massif in Antarctica this December to become the youngest girl to complete the 7 Summits challenge.
The Indian Navy has also shared a post in on X today congratulating the father-daughter duo on summiting Mt. Everest wishing them luck for their future endeavors.
Kaamya climbed Denali Peak (6,190m) in North America with passionate mountaineer Sharad Kulkarni in 2022. At that time, Kaamya was the youngest mountaineer and Kulkarni was the oldest mountaineer. Kulkarni stated, "Kaamya is passionate about trekking and mountaineering. She has determination, and enthusiasm, and is a hard worker. We trained together and climbed Denali together. She is always ready to face challenges."
