Seventeen-year-old Bianca Adler is creating a stir with her grueling yet record-breaking hike up Mount Everest.
She has documented days of struggling through snowstorms, being forced to turn back by the onset of frostbite, altitude sickness, snow blindness, and posted videos of herself barely able to speak.
Despite not having reached the actual peak of Everest, the 17-year-old reached the top of Mount Manaslu–the eighth-highest mountain in the world, towering 8,000 meters above sea level–making her the youngest to achieve the feat.
Seventeen-year-old Bianca Adler lamented having to turn around for safety reasons
Image credits: bianca_adler1
Her most recent post was on September 23. The white text overlay specified “Everest Camp 4 8,000 m (above sea level) after turning back.”
Adler, cheeks snow-blasted and bruised, can be seen removing her oxygen mask to speak.
“It’s so hard,” she can be heard saying in a barely audible croak.
Image credits: bianca_adler1
“I was feeling so good and so strong and I had to turn around,” she lamented.
She replaces her mask for another gulp of oxygen, then elaborates in the same dejected tone: “It’s something that’s not in my control.”
A combination of strong winds and frostbite forced her to turn around
“I can’t do anything about that,” Adler continued amidst coughs, sniffs, whimpers, and gasps. “It would have been stupid to continue on.”
The saga is documented on Instagram, too.
In the caption of a photo showing chunks of ice clinging to her braids, Adler elaborated on how the winds put paid to their efforts less than 500 meters from her goal of Everest.
“I had to turn around on Mt Everest at 8450m (400m below the summit),” she wrote.
“The winds were way too strong for what I believed was right for my own safety. I could feel my hands and toes going numb, the first step of frostbite.”
She and her guides made a second attempt for the summit, but she was too tired
Image credits: biancaaadler
“It was an extremely tough decision, but I always want to choose life over a potential summit. I felt strong, like I could summit, and was devastated,” Adler elaborated.
“The next night, my Sherpa guides and I tried again from camp 4 (8000m), but I was too exhausted from the 10hr effort the previous night, and turned around,” her account continued.
“After 3 nights, and almost 4 days in the death zone at 8000m or above, we descended back down to camp 2.”
Image credits: biancaaadler
Adler certainly was not the only or the first mountaineer of her group to be turned around.
The girl’s father dropped out earlier after the glare of the snow affected his sight
Adler’s father came off the bandwagon earlier on the hike.
“On the summit push Dad got sick and stayed at camp 2 whilst I went up,” Adler explained.
“On the way down, he was still sick and I was exhausted. We both got diagnosed with HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema) and dehydration (which is normal for mountaineering). I still feel quite sick and extremely exhausted, so I’m taking time to recover.”
Social media is concerned about Adler’s wellbeing
Social media has been following the young mountaineer’s progress with rapt attention.
Many netizens weighed in with words of encouragement, one of whom wrote: “You did amazing mate, you should be proud of yourself! The mountain will always be there for another attempt in the future, I’m glad you’re safe and rest up and recover.”
“You are 17, girl. You have so much life left to live. You did the right thing,” observed another.
“Are you still with us,” asked another worriedly. Having received no answer, another person concluded: “Yeah, I don’t think she is with us anymore.
A 2024 report indicated that there were 200 human bodies strewn across Mount Everest
Image credits: bianca_adler1
Netizens’ concern for Bianca Adler is not misplaced.
In the BBC’s 2024 coverage of a cleanup operation of the world’s highest mountain and its surrounding peaks, it reported that there are 200 bodies of people who never made it back to base camp.
After a 55-hour operation by the Nepalese Army, they were only able to recover four, along with one skeleton and 11 tons of rubbish.
A local guide remembered how he had encountered the body of a Czech climber within spitting distance of the summit
Image credits: bianca_adler1
A month later, a guide, Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa, told a story of how he was leading his German guest to the peak when he stumbled across the body of Czech national Milan Sedlacek.
The climber’s body was within striking distance of the summit and blocked the way.
The guide remembered that one of his gloves was missing and speculated that “The bare hand might have slipped away from the rope. He might have [passed away] after losing his balance and crashing onto the rock.”
A full 12 years would transpire before Sedlacek’s was recovered and brought down from the peak.
Some people cannot understand why Alder is causing herself such suffering
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