12-Year-Old Young Climber Embarks on a Journey from Yamanashi to the Top of Africa’s Highest Peak and Conquers Kilimanjaro

At the tender of 12, we daydream of wearing the cape of our favorite superhero and performing some mind-boggling stunt that will leave the whole world in awe of us. But recently, a little girl of 12 achieved a feat that many of us would fear to even dream of. Imagine embarking on a quest to conquer the majestic peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. A 12-year-old had just lived your imagination a few days back.

This is the tale of a young enthusiast who was inspired by the mountaineering tales and aspired to be a part of them one day. But the amazing part is that she chose not to wait much to achieve her dreams. Driven by a strong love and passion for the lofty summits, she set on a journey to climb the highest peak of Africa. Join us as we delve into this remarkable saga of a little girl whose innocent dreams have just blossomed into a grand adventure.

Japan’s Rei Banno’s daring ascent to Kilimanjaro’s pinnacle

Rei Banno, a 6th grader dynamo from the picturesque town of Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan, has conquered the crown jewel of African peaks. She learned about Kilimanjaro from mountaineering magazines and started to weave a dream. 

Banno, a student of an elementary school in Japan, has successfully scaled 5895 meters and etched her name in the annals of history. She was not even four when she started to climb heights that had left the world awestruck. She scaled more than 300 peaks at the age of four, proving age is just a number. Banno was in her second grade when she started dreaming of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and it did not take her much time to gain the strength and courage to reach the summit and touch the sky.

“I’ve gained confidence”, said Banno with a big smile on her face. She conquered Mount Konara in her home country and started her journey, which has not seen a pause since then. “The mountain looks like a big pudding. It’s beautiful” was Banno’s thought about Kilimanjaro. 

She wanted to witness the state of the mountain with her own eyes. Not just to witness its beauty, but to see the changes that have been brought in by the devilish impacts of global warming. 

Tale of a rising star hiking beyond borders 

Banno’s mother Naomi has always been the biggest support system for her. She has been with her while she successfully scaled 100 peaks in Yamanashi Prefecture within the age of 6.

While they planned that Banno would be embarking on her journey to Africa to climb Kilimanjaro, they started to gather funds through crowdfunding. ¥831,210 was raised by them, which exceeded their initial target amount by more than by more than ¥300,000.

Read More: 64-Year-Old Grandfather of Two Stuns the World by Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro

Banno left Japan on September 1 to fulfill her dreams and was all ready to climb Mount Kilimanjaro on September 3. She witnessed how glaciers were melting due to global warming and wildfires. It was devastating for her to witness and observe the destruction of nature.

But despite everything, she completed her trek on September 7 and Banno said, “I was too happy for words.” She later shared her experience and reported to Kofu Mayor Yuichi Higuchi.

There’s no stopping for Rei Banno as she said, “I want to climb Vinson Massif, the highest peak in Antarctica, by the end of my high school days. So, I need to borrow books about Antarctica from a library”. 

We can’t wait for the young little brave girl to achieve all that she dreams of and amaze the world with her incredible passion and courage.

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