On top of the world: Bonita Norris has realised her 'crazy' dream after becoming the youngest British female to reach the summit at the age of 22She had never climbed a mountain until last year.
But a 22-year-old graduate has become the youngest British woman to scale the world’s highest peak – despite having little experience of mountaineering and feeling like she was ‘going to die’ when she went for her first jog to get fit.
Bonita Norris reached the summit of Mount Everest early yesterday morning, after being inspired by survival expert Bear Grylls’s account of his own record-breaking climb at the age of 23.
Stakes are high: The intrepid climber posted pictures of herself on her website during the course of the ascentShe said she woke up one day determined to go through with the ‘crazy’ idea, ignoring her family’s warnings that it was ‘stupid’.
Miss Norris, from Wokingham, Berkshire, also had to fight an uphill battle with an eating disorder to get into peak condition for the 29,029ft climb.
But yesterday, the media arts graduate from Royal Holloway, University of London, posted on her blog that she had reached the summit and was ‘proud to be the new holder of a British record’.
Her mother, Jacqui Andrews, said: ‘We are so proud of Bonita in completing this amazing achievement. When Bonita told us back in 2008 that she wanted to climb Mount Everest, I have to admit we had reservations.
‘It’s such a dangerous thing for anyone, let alone our daughter, to undertake.
‘But, despite our initial misgivings, we’ve been behind Bonita every step of the way and we can’t wait to welcome her home in a couple of days’ time.’
Miss Norris, who also became the youngest woman to climb Nepal’s Mount Manaslu, the world’s eighth highest mountain, while training for Everest last year, fought bulimia as she prepared for her climb.
She also risked frostbite, hypothermia and altitude sickness during the gruelling challenge.
Training: Bonita began training to climb Everest five years ago at the age of 17 - she was inspired by Bear Grylls, who is the youngest Briton to have climbed the mountain
Route: Bonita followed the route shown which takes the climbers up the south face of Everest, through four camps before they reach the summit
Dizzy heights: Miss Norris completed her climb with mountaineer Kenton Cool, who broke his own British record on the trip by successfully scaling Everest for the eighth time Speaking after reaching Everest’s 5,200m base camp, she said: ‘I was 17 when I first told my stepdad I was going to climb Everest one day and he said “Don’t be stupid”.
‘This has been a dream for a long time but I kept dismissing it, then one morning in 2008 I woke up determined to do it. My idea was to climb Everest in its spring season of 2010, and raise a shed load of cash for charity along the way.
‘Despite many people telling me that I couldn’t do it, and some insisting I would die trying, I knew I could prove them wrong.’
Miss Norris completed her climb with mountaineer Kenton Cool, who broke his own British record on the trip by successfully scaling Everest for the eighth time. He also led Sir Ranulph Fiennes’s expeditions in 2008 and 2009.
Miss Norris, who used the climb to raise money for international children’s charity Global Angels, said: ‘I had less than two years to get ready, and a slight issue of finding £50,000 to cover the costs of the trip.
‘It seems crazy looking back, but with a little determination I was soon heading out to the Alps and getting sponsorship in place to cover these huge costs.’
Miss Norris signed up for her assault on Everest on impulse after attending a lecture at the Royal Geographical Society last year.
Gruelling: The 22-year-old is pictured getting a fix of bottled oxygen - climbers often find the trek especially difficult due to extreme altitude sickness
Inspiration: Bonita read Bear Grylls's account of becoming the youngest person to climb Everest
Her training schedule, devised by Mr Cool, included regular climbs at an indoor arena in Guildford and 50 miles of running a week.Miss Norris admitted: ‘The first time I exercised when I was 17 I went jogging for 30 seconds and thought I was going to die.
‘But the next day I went jogging for a minute, and so on, and now I’m climbing Everest.’
The novice mountaineer was also supported by Victoria James, who previously held the title for youngest British female to climb Mount Everest, at the age of 25.
Miss James said: ‘I’m always willing to offer advice to anyone wanting to climb Everest – it’s a huge undertaking and there were so many people that helped me in the run up to my climb, and I want to do the same.’
Ruth Walters, a spokesman for Miss Norris’s sponsors Mobile Phone Top Up, said: ‘She took up mountaineering as a natural progression from walking, tackling smaller hills and mountains first.’
The youngest person to climb Everest was Temba Tsheri from Nepal, who was 16 when he reached the peak in 2001.
The youngest Briton to scale the mountain was Rob Gauntlett in 2006, at the age of 19. He died last year while climbing in the Mont Blanc range above the Alpine resort of Chamonix.
Treacherous: Mountainers brave stark conditions on their journey up Everest risking frostbite, hypothermia and altitude sickness on the 29,029ft climbsource: dailymail