Kaamya Karthikeyan
Ms Kaamya Karthikeyan, daughter of Cdr S Karthikeyan of the Indian Navy and a student of the Navy Children School, Mumbai, she is a 17 yr old mountaineering prodigy. She recently accomplished her long cherished mission – to unfurl the Tricolor on the summit of the highest peak on all seven continents – by summiting the highest peak of Antarctica, on 24 Dec 2024. She had earlier summited the highest peak of Africa (Oct 2017), Europe (Jun 2018), Australia (Nov 2018), South America (Feb 2020), North America (Jun 2022) and more recently Mt. Everest (Asia) in May 2024. In the course of this seven year long journey, she has climbed many peaks in India as well and set many world records which include:-
(a) The youngest female in the world to complete the 7summits challenge at 17 yrs of age.
(b) The youngest Indian and the second youngest girl in the world to summit Mt. Everest from the Nepal side at 16 yrs of age.
(c) The youngest girl in the world to summit Mt. Aconcagua, the highest peak of South America, at 12 yrs of age.
(d) The youngest Non-American to summit Mt. Denali, the highest peak of North America, at 14 yrs of age.
(e) The youngest person in the world to ski down from Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak of Europe, at 10 yrs of age.
(f) The youngest girl in the world to summit a peak above 6000 Meters at nine years of age.
The young mountaineer is a recipient of the prestigious Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Shakti Puraskar, the highest award for Indian citizens under 18 years of age and has won accolades from many prominent personalities including the Hon. Prime Minister in his Mann ki Baat. She was also felicitated by the Prime Minister of Nepal on Everest Day 2024 for her unprecedented climb of Mt. Everest.
Kaamya now aims to become the youngest person in the world to complete the explorers’ Grand Slam, an ultimate adventure challenge to complete the 7 summits and ski-traverse to both the North and South poles. She plans to accomplish both the remaining challenges in Apr and Dec 2025.