Kaamya Karthikeyan, a 17-year-old student from Navy Children School in Mumbai, has etched her name in history by becoming the youngest female in the world to scale the seven highest peaks across all seven continents.
This extraordinary feat includes her October 2018 ascent of Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak in Australia, which she described as a significant milestone in her mountaineering journey.
Her 2018 expedition to climb Mount Kosciuszko was a family affair, with her mother joining as her trekking partner. Marking the occasion, she had shared on Facebook:
“Happy Onam! Australia calling!! On this auspicious day of Onam, I’m happy to announce the next endeavour of SAHAS – Mt. Kosciusko. With God’s blessings and all your good wishes, I’ll be heading to Sydney in October end with my regular trekking partner, my mother, to climb the highest peak of Australia, third of the Seven Summits for me!!”
Kaamya’s Seven Summits journey saw her conquer Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mount Elbrus (Europe), Mount Aconcagua (South America), Mount Denali (North America), Mount Everest (Asia), Mount Kosciuszko (Australia), and culminated in her December 24, 2024, summit of Mount Vinson in Antarctica.
Accompanied by her father, Commander S. Karthikeyan of the Indian Navy, she completed the Seven Summits Challenge at 5:20 pm Chilean Standard Time.
In a congratulatory post, the Indian Navy celebrated her accomplishment, stating, “Kaamya Karthikeyan, Class XII student at @IN_NCS Mumbai, scripts history by becoming the youngest female in the world to scale the seven highest peaks across seven continents.” Her school, Navy Children School Mumbai, hailed her achievement as “a moment of immense pride.”
Kaamya’s mountaineering aspirations began at the age of seven during her first trek in Uttarakhand and intensified when she scaled Mount Everest at just 16.
Reflecting on her remarkable achievement, Kaamya said ina post on Instagram, “The last seven years since we set out on Mission SAHAS have been full of hard work, sacrifices, countless hours of training and even more time spent dreaming, learning and preparing. But they’ve also been full of wonderful experiences, a lot of travel, beautiful views and getting to know the most amazing people.” She added:
“With the summit on Mt. Vinson, I’ve completed a major milestone of Mission SAHAS – The 7Summits Challenge! But there’s a lot more to do and learn in the future! This was just the trailer and I can’t wait for all that’s yet to come!”
Having achieved the Seven Summits, Kaamya now sets her sights on the Explorer’s Grand Slam, which involves reaching both the North and South Poles.
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