Azar Alyssa - The girl who climbed Everest: the inspirational story of Alyssa Azar, Australias youngest adventurer

Ill always wonder, Could I have done anything?

ALYSSA AZAR, MOUNTAINEER AND EVEREST SUMMITTER

As Alyssa makes her way carefully down the mountain, she passes two other Australian climbers. The couple, a man and a woman, engage one of her fellow climbers in conversation. They were on their way up to Camp VI when they started feeling ill, they say. They eventually decided to abandon their climb and are now heading back.

They seem disappointed but resigned, and even cheerful at the prospect of being back down at Base Camp in a couple of days. They continue chatting with the person on Alyssas expedition until they all say farewell. They seem bright and healthy and dont ask for any help at all.

Its only the next day, after one night at Camp II, and then finally arriving back in Base Camp, that Alyssa hears an Australian woman has died on the mountain. She realises that must have been the woman they passed.

It was Monash University finance lecturer Dr Maria Strydom, aged thirty-four, who fell ill with altitude sickness after turning back from the summit, and died with her partner holding her hand. Her husband, vet Dr Rob Gropel was also sick, suffering from fluid in the lungs and swelling of the brain, and had to be helicoptered off the mountain. Another man in the same expedition, Dutch climber Eric Arnold, also died during the descent, while three other deaths occurred in another team of Indian climbers, Subhash Pal, Paresh Chandra Nath and Goutam Ghosh. One Nepalese, Ang Furba Sherpa, fell to his death while fixing ropes for climbers on Lhotse.

The Australian womans death is something Ive thought about a lot since, Alyssa says. We had no way of knowing how serious her altitude sickness was. If wed known, maybe I could have put my oxygen mask on her and helped her get down to Camp II, at a much lower altitude. Maybe it would have made a difference? Well never know, and have no way of ever knowing. But it does make you realise how dangerous Everest can be. Even when things look all right, theyre not necessarily anything like they seem. I think Ill always wonder, Could I have done anything?

Its a sobering thought, but its also hard not to feel elation at what shes personally achieved. Stepping off the summit, Alyssa tried to phone her dad on the satellite phone and, although it went through all the way to Glenns remote location on the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, he missed the call. She tried again, and couldnt get through. Finally, on her third attempt, they connected.

That was the one call in your life you never want to miss! says Glenn. When I realised I missed a call, I didnt know whether it would be good news or bad. Of course, I always worry about her, and I wondered if anything had gone wrong. But I had no way of finding out until I got to the next camp four hours away so I just kept on hoping it was good news. It seemed a bit early to me for her to have summitted, but I just didnt know. Then on the third try, I got the message that shed done it. I was so pumped. I was so excited. I couldnt sleep that night for thinking about it. It was so hard to fully comprehend.

Back in Toowoomba, there are some excited people too. Samantha has been interrupted in class by her principal coming in to break the news that her sister has made it to the top of Everest. The whole class celebrate. Therese is also thrilled. Despite her young age, I knew no one was better prepared or as fiercely determined to summit Mount Everest, she says. I was also certain that Alyssa would stay on the mountain until she did.

Everest experts are also generous in their praise. Renowned Everest chronicler and 2011 summitter Alan Arnette is quick to congratulate her. To summit Everest requires skills, confidence, luck and unbridled determination, he says. Alyssa had all of these, rarely found in a nineteen-year-old. Climbers twice her age gave up after the tragic events of 2014 and 2015, but Alyssa showed unusual perseverance and resilience to become the youngest Australian to stand on top of the world in 2016.

The keeper of the official records, Billi Bierling, is also very happy for her. Amazing feat that she did it!! she says.

But Alyssa has to wait another ten days to celebrate herself. She has the long trek from Base Camp back to Lukla to think about it, then has to wait for a flight back to Kathmandu. She spends a few days there before flying out to Singapore to rendezvous with her dad on his way back from his fifty-fifth Kokoda, stop overnight, and then fly on to Brisbane. Glenn and Alyssa are picked up by helicopter from Brisbane airport and taken to Toowoomba for a reunion with the rest of the family. They receive a heros welcome. In addition, Alyssa visits Samanthas school and is the star guest at an impromptu Q&A for the eight- and nine-year-olds, with her little sister proudly presiding over the whole event. Christian, not sure what all the fuss is about, is just happy to have her back home again.

I think the hardest thing over the past few years was that no one was really sure this would ever happen, says Alyssa. But happily, it has. I always said I was never motivated by the idea of being the youngest Australian to climb Everest but I now definitely feel very proud of that title. Im just very happy and grateful to everyone whos helped on the long, long journey.

If anyone thought that Alyssas success on Everest would cure her of her ambition to climb mountains, they were wrong. Her next goal is to climb the rest of the Seven Summits the highest peaks of the seven continents. With Everest, Mount Kosciuszko and Kilimanjaro already summitted, that leaves just Aconcagua, Mount Elbrus, Mount Vinson and Mount McKinley, and she has until the age of twenty-three to break another record as the youngest Australian to do that. Shed also like to reach the top of all the fourteen mountains on earth that are over 8000 metres, particularly Manaslu, which beat her back in 2013.

In the meantime, she plans to work with her dad in his Adventure Professionals business, helping lead his expeditions in between taking off on her own. Shes also considering going back to distance learning and maybe taking a degree in business administration in order to become even better equipped for helping grow the family firm.

But first, I want to take some time out to reflect on the fact that this Everest dream is now over, she says. All my life Ive had that one goal and now Ive achieved it, I need to take some time out to come to terms with that.

Yet Glenn sees his daughter as unlikely to take much time off. After all the years of people doubting her ability and saying she shouldnt or couldnt get to the top of Everest, he sees her as being on the verge of much greater things.

To think shes done something like this when shes just nineteen, and plenty of others far older and more experienced have failed, is pretty amazing, says Glenn, whos now developing an adventure fitness app with Alyssa that will help users prepare physically and mentally for expeditions as varied as Kokoda, Kilimanjaro, the Kimberley and Everest itself. Shes remained so positive throughout all the negatives and I think shes now in a position to really inspire lots of young Australians. They see her and learn from her example that they too can achieve anything, if theyre determined enough and ready to work hard and put everything into it.

I think thats definitely Alyssas brand, and what she wants to do. She realises how inspiring it can be to see someone achieve something theyve worked their whole life for. I saw how she lit up all those little kids at her sisters school. She has that ability, and shes determined to help other people achieve things they want to, too. She just happens to have found her path in life early, and Im very happy for her.