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Adventure was woven into the fabric of Bianca Adler's life from the very beginning

Her fascination with Mt. Everest took root early, fueled by her parents’ own expeditions to the mountain in 2006 and 2007

This year, at 17, she made her own journey to Mt. Everest

As a little girl, Bianca Adler would sit cross-legged on the floor, flipping through her family’s picture books of Mount Everest — mesmerized by the snow-dusted peaks and climbers standing at the top of the world.

“I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is beautiful,’ ” she recalls to PEOPLE.

Her fascination was fueled by her parents’ expeditions to Everest in 2006 and 2007. Adventure, it seemed, was in her blood.

Raised in Melbourne, Australia, and later in the French Alps, Adler grew up surrounded by mountains and

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