Seven-Year-Old Girl Becomes Youngest To Climb Mount Kilimanjaro

A seven-year-old girl from Texas made history when she became the youngest female to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Montannah Kenney and her mom Hollie Kenney made the climb during Montannah's spring break in March. 

The two had decided to start training for the climb last year. Hollie, a former professional triathlete, planned on having three years to train her daughter for the 19,341-foot climb because the minimum age to attempt the climb is ten 

That all changed when Hollie read that an eight-year-old had successfully reached the summit. The mother-daughter duo kicked their planning into overdrive and put together the trip in a matter of months. She knew that their only chance to break the world record was to do it in March when Montannah was on spring break. 

They would embark on long hikes between four and eight hours on the weekends and even trained during the school week by going on shorter hikes.

The training paid off because Montannah excelled in the harsh conditions. The trek up the mountain was wet and cold, and by the end, their water was frozen and all their clothes were soaking wet. None of that deterred the young girl who wanted to reach the summit to be closer to her father, who passed away one week after her third birthday. 

"She never, ever questioned what she was doing," she said. "Every day I asked Montannah if this was harder or easier than she thought it would be, and every day she answered, 'Easier.'"

They didn't go home after finishing the record-breaking climb. Instead, they spent the next two weeks going on safaris in Africa and spending some time relaxing on the beach. 


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