At 16, Kaamya Karthikeyan Becomes Youngest Indian to Scale MT Everest

Jamshedpur:: Kaamya Karthikeyan, a 16-year-old mountaineer, has become the youngest Indian to climb Mt Everest from Nepal side, the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) said on Thursday.

An official of the TSAF, which supported her endeavour, said Kaamya was accompanied by her father, Commander S Karthikeyan of the Indian Navy, during the journey to the highest peak on the earth.

“After this feat, she 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,” the Western Naval Command said in a post on X.

The teenager and her father reached the summit at 8848 metres on May 20.

“Kaamya has now completed six milestones in her mission to summit the highest peak of all seven continents and aims to summit Mt. Vinson Massif in Antarctica this December to become the youngest girl to accomplish the 7summits challenge,” the Western Naval Command said in the X post.

She is a class XII student of Navy Children School, Mumbai.

“We are incredibly proud of Kaamya Karthikeyan's extraordinary achievement of summiting Mt. Everest at such a young age. Her journey is a testament to the spirit of perseverance, meticulous preparation, and unwavering determination,” TSAF Chairman Chanakya Chaudhary said in a statement.

She is an inspiration to young adventurers everywhere, proving that with dedication and the right support, even the most ambitious dreams can be realised, Chaudhary said.

The girl was a recipient of the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Shakti Puraskar, an award given to children for their exceptional achievement.

The TSAF said that Kaamya, along with her team, reached Kathmandu on April 6. After acclimatisation and several days of planning, her final summit climb began on May 16 from the Everest Base Camp and the final push began in the early morning of May 20.

Her Himalayan journey started at the age of seven with a high-altitude trek to Chandrashila Peak (12,000 ft) in 2015. Next year, she tackled tougher treks like Har-ki Dun (13,500 ft), Kedarkantha Peak (13,500 ft), and Roopkund Lake (16,400 ft).

In May 2017, she trekked to Everest Base Camp (17,600 ft) in Nepal, becoming the second youngest girl to achieve this. In May 2019, she trekked to Brighu Lake (14,100 ft) and crossed the Sar Pass (13,850 ft) in Himachal Pradesh, according to the TSAF statement.