Kaamya Karthikeyan

Kaamya Karthikeyan is an Indian climber who lives in Mumbai, Maharashtra. At 17 years of age, she became the youngest female in the world to complete the Seven Summits challenge in 2024. ^{[1] [2] [3]} At sixteen years of age, she also became the youngest Indian mountaineer and second youngest girl in the world to summit Mount Everest from the Nepal side. ^[4] In 2021, she was awarded the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar the highest civilian award for Indian citizens under the age of 18. ^[5]

Early life

Kaamya's father S. Karthikeyan is a Commander in the Indian Navy and her mother Lavanya Karthikeyan is an early childhood educator. ^{[6] [7]} She is currently a student at Mumbai's Navy Children School.

Mountaineering

Kaamya has summited the highest peak on all continents and became the youngest female to complete the seven summits challenge when she summited Mt. Vinson in Antarctica at 1720 hrs on 24 Dec 2024 (UTC -03:00). Kaamya had earlier summited Mount Everest on 20 May 2024, becoming the youngest Indian and the second youngest female in the world to climb the peak from Nepal side. She summited Mount Denali in 2022 (becoming the youngest non-American to do so), ^[8] Mt. Aconcagua in 2020 (becoming the youngest girl in the world to climb the peak) and Mount Elbrus in 2018 (becoming the youngest to complete a ski-descent from the peak). ^[9] She scaled Kilimanjaro in 2017 and Mount Kosciuszko in 2018. ^{[10] [11]}

References

1. Bose, Mrityunjay (28 December 2024). "Mumbai's 16 Year-old Kaamya Karthikeyan becomes youngest girl to scale seven highest peaks in the world". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
2. "Mumbai girl becomes youngest in world to climb South America's highest peak". The Indian Express. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
3. "Mumbai girl Kaamya Karthikeyan becomes youngest Indian to summit Mt Everest". The Indian Express. 23 May 2024. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
4. Shaikh, Ateeq (23 May 2024). "At 16, Kaamya Karthikeyan scales Mt. Everest to become youngest Indian to achieve the feat". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 28 December 2024.
5. Services, Hungama Digital. "16-year-old mountaineering star Kaamya Karthikeyan triumphs Mt Everest". www.tatasteel.com. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
6. "Kaamya Karthikeyan, 16, becomes youngest Indian, 2nd youngest girl in the world to scale Mt. Everest". Hindustan Times. 23 May 2024. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
7. ""I am feeling extremely proud": Proud mother of Kaamya Karthikeyan, youngest Indian to climb Mt Everest". ANI News. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
8. ABP News Bureau, ABP News (4 July 2022). "Kaamya Karthikeyan Becomes Youngest Indian To Scale Summit Of North America's Mt Denali". news.abplive.com. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
9. Ganguly, Nivedita (6 June 2018). "Kaamya, the explorer". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 28 December 2024.
10. https://www.indianembassysantiago.gov.in/uploads/2024/Mountaineering%20&%20Skiing%20Experience%20-%20Kaamya%20Karthikeyan.pdf ^{[ bare URL PDF ]}
11. Bharat, E. T. V. (28 December 2024). "Navy Officer's Daughter Scales Highest Peaks In All Seven Continents Of The World". ETV Bharat News. Retrieved 28 December 2024.