On May 25, 13-year-old Malavath Poorna became the youngest girl ever to scale the world’s highest mountain. Her trek up the 29,035-foot Mount Everest didn’t come without its difficulties, of course—beginning long before the climb began.

A year earlier, Malavath never had been on the side of a mountain before; and while she longed to climb Everest, the trek can be incredibly expensive. Her parents are poor farmers who were born into the lowest caste in India’s now illegal but pervasive caste system.

A program designed to encourage underprivileged Indians sponsored Malavath’s dream. She trained diligently for eight months, but because Nepal (the country where most Everest expeditions begin) doesn’t allow climbers under the age of 16 to undertake the challenge, Malavath and her team of Nepalese guides began the climb from the Chinese-Tibet side of the mountain.

Once the adventure was underway, she came across six dead bodies—an alarmingly frequent site on the mountain, given there’s often no way to retrieve those who died en route—but she soldiered on and made it to the summit.

“When I reached the top of Everest, very good experience,” she said in English. “I feel great and proud, and I shed joyful tears.” (Fox News)

Paul Asay has written for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for PluggedIn and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He recently collaborated with Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, on his book The Good Dad. He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and his two children. Follow him on Twitter.