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Polish teen climber summits Mount Everest

20.05.2025 10:33
A 19-year-old student from the southern city of Kraków has become the youngest Pole to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Zoja Skubis, a 19-year-old from Kraków, southern Poland, reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 18, setting a remarkable early landmark in her climbing journey.
Zoja Skubis, a 19-year-old from Kraków, southern Poland, reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 18, setting a remarkable early landmark in her climbing journey. Instagram/zojaskubis

Zoja Skubis reached the top of the world’s highest mountain on Sunday, May 18, marking a major milestone in her young mountaineering career.

A student at Kraków’s University of Economics, Skubis has already achieved feats that set her apart from many of her peers.

In October last year, she climbed Manaslu, an 8,000-metre Himalayan peak, and earlier completed a marathon in Antarctica, running 42 kilometres in six hours in freezing conditions.

She spent the last two months in Nepal preparing for the Everest ascent. 

Zoja reached the 8,849-metre summit late on Sunday morning, local time, breaking a national record previously held by Wojciech Kukuczka - the son of renowned climber Jerzy Kukuczka - who climbed Everest at the age of 23.

"Reaching the summit is the most meaningful end to all my sacrifices, training, tears and nerves,” Skubis wrote on social media, where she shared images and reflections from the climb.

Skubis is also active on TikTok and Instagram, where she shares her adventurous lifestyle, including challenges such as sleeping outdoors on a balcony and other endurance-based pursuits that have attracted a growing following.

Her love for exploration was inspired by her father, Wojciech Skubis, who died in a climbing accident in the Caucasus Mountains five years ago, aged 42.

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Post udostępniony przez ZOJA SKUBIS (@zojaskubis)

Polish journalist and adventurer Martyna Wojciechowska praised the young climber's achievement, writing:

"Behind every success lies discipline, hard work and perseverance. Climbing Everest is just the visible tip of the iceberg. Not everyone needs to scale the world’s highest peaks - but everyone should believe in their dreams.”

ZOJA SKUBIS @zojaskubis GRATULACJE!👏 W niedzielę 18 maja Zoja nastąpiła na szczyt Mount Everestu i została najmłodsza...

Opublikowany przez Martynę Wojciechowską Poniedziałek, 19 maja 2025

(mp/gs)

Source: Facebook.com/martyna.world/Instagram/@zojaskubis