AGS Welcomes Bonita Norris - The Youngest British

Woman to climb Mount Everest

Bonnita Norris, the youngest female to climb Mount Everest gave an inspirational speech to year 9 students at Allerton Grange on Tuesday 8th February. Bonita was the youngest British female to climb Mount Everest and regularly inspires young people by speaking in schools about decision making and never giving up on a seemingly impossible goal.

On the 17th of May 2010 she became 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  after being inspired by survival expert Bear Grylls’s account of his own record-breaking climb at the age of 23.
She said she woke up one day determined to go through with the ‘crazy’ idea, ignoring her family’s warnings that it was ‘stupid’. Bonita, from Wokingham, Berkshire, had to fight an uphill battle with an eating disorder to get into peak condition for the 29,029ft climb.She also became the youngest woman to climb Nepal’s Mount Manaslu, the world’s eighth highest mountain while training for Everest and risked frostbite, hypothermia and altitude sickness during the gruelling challenge

She hopes to continue inspiring young people, not only by embarking on her new challenge, but by visiting corporations, schools and charities to talk about her experiences. She described herself as an average girl, who took on a big challenge, and didn't give up on a seemingly impossible goal.

Her next challenge will be an expedition to the South Pole in 2011/2012, with an all British female team, on a record breaking expedition to the coldest place on earth on the centenary of the South Pole first being reached.

If you would like any more information about Bonita and her expedition challenges, visit her website....

http://www.bonitanorris.com/

See the photos of Bonita chatting to the students:-