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Teenager Alyssa Azar becomes youngest Australian to climb Mount Everest

Queensland teen Alyssa Azar has succeeded in her bid to become the youngest Australian in history to scale Mount Everest.

After an attempt two previous attempts, this time her climb went without a hitch. 

In a message posted on her Facebook page, the 19-year-old's achievement was verified.

"We can confirm that Alyssa has successfully summitted Mt Everest. This has been a goal she has been determined to achieve for several years," the statement said.

"Alyssa has had her share of set backs but has never wavered in her determination."

This was Ms Azar's third trip to Nepal to tackle Everest. The avalanche in 2014 that left 16 people dead, and the Nepal earthquake in 2015 prevented her from reaching the summit, but she said both trips had left her better prepared for this attempt.

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"We know this part of the process very well and the lead-up to the expeditions," she said in February.

"Sometimes the stress, the motions of prepping for Everest have become pretty normal at this point so I feel more prepared."

She had about three seconds' warning before the April 2014 avalanche, courtesy of a loud roar.

"I quickly zipped up the back of my tent and prepared myself," she said.

"Our training tells us to leave a pocket of air in the tent to allow time for people to get us out and that instinct kicked in.

"My Sherpa guides were insistent we would keep going after the avalanche, but it wasn't possible."

During last year's devastating Nepal earthquake, she was half asleep in her tent at Mount Everest Base Camp when the shockwaves reached the mountain.

"The shaking started and at first I didn't really process what it was but then I looked out the back of my tent because I could hear this weird noise and I could see the avalanche coming towards our camp," she said.

"Basically it was completely white. You couldn't see anything. And so I quickly zipped up my tent and I tried to hold it up as best as I could, at least a part of it so I would have enough air in case it buried me."

The snow buried half of her tent but she escaped without injury.

Adventure has been a major part of Ms Azar's life since she was eight, when she completed her first challenge, crossing the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea.

She has also completed treks such as Everest Base Camp, Kokoda, Mount Kosciuszko, Mount Kilimanjaro and the Aussie 10 – the highest peaks in Australia.

Ms Azar's father, Glenn Azar, said her achievement had "been many years in the making and a lot of work".

This story was originally published in May 2016.