Dubbed 'Oz Chicks with Altitude", Cheryl Bart and her 23-year old daughter, Nikki, became the first mother-daughter team climb the peak of Mount Everest on Sunday, May 24th. They also became the first mother-daughter team to climb the 'Seven Summits'-the highest peaks in each continent.

The duo started the 8,850 metre (29,035 ft) climb on April 1st. Along the way they encountered a lot of delays due to the bitterly cold weather as well as the priority given to the ascent of the Olympic Torch, which was taken there earlier this month (click for full story).

Their final climb took them over eleven and a half hours of hard climbing. Reaching the summit just in time to see a beautiful sunrise, both Cheryl and Nikki said the effort was all worth it. What made the event even more special was the fact that with this climb, the two had completed their quest of climbing the highest peaks in all seven continents.

Starting when Nikki was just 18, the duo have climbed to the top of Australia's Mount Kosciuszko (2228m), Antarctica's Vinson Massif (4897m), South America's Aconcagua (6962m), Africa's Kiliminjaro (5895m), North America's McKinley-Denali (6195m) and Europe's Elbrus (5642m), and now Mt Everest. The only thing left to do is to come down safely. The two have already begun their descent to base camp four, expected to take about 8 hours.

The first person to climb to the top of Mt. Everest was Sir Edmund Hillary along with his Sherpa (guide) Tenzang Norgay in May of 1953. Since then only 3,800 people have managed to reach the summit and over 210 climbers have lost their lives trying to get to the top.Thousands more have abandoned their efforts halfway! Till today, it remains the most treacherous yet most irresistible challenge for mountain climbers all over the world.

In the Video below filmed prior to their latest quest, the mother and daughter talk about why they decided to do this and also the amount of work it takes to prepare as well as the challenges they face whilst climbing these mountains.

Sources:bigpondeverest.com, China Post