Queensland teenager Alyssa Azar has started the long journey down Mount Everest after becoming the youngest Australian to reach the mountain's summit.
The 19-year-old Toowoomba girl was hailed as "an inspiration" by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk after she scaled Everest on her third attempt on Saturday.
But her trainer Chase Tucker, of Big Mountain Training, stressed that Alyssa's expedition wasn't over and the most dangerous part of climbing Everest was the days-long ordeal to climb back down.
"I think about the summit as halfway," he told AAP.
In particular, she still has to get past the notoriously dangerous Khumbu Icefall, which is located between Base Camp and Camp 1.
"Getting back through the icefall is where most of the deaths happen, that's the part I'm most concerned about and Alyssa would be too," he said.
"It's basically a glacier consistently moving down the south face of the mountain ... you've got gigantic ice blocks, the size of houses, that can move at any moment and cause avalanches or simply crush people."
The dangers of climbing the mountain were brought home over the weekend with the deaths of Australian woman Dr Maria Strydom and Dutch man Eric Arnold who were descending the mountain.
Conflicting media reports have attributed the death of the 34-year-old Australian woman to altitude sickness, snow blindness and a stroke.
Mr Tucker said Alyssa was well prepared for the climb and likened her gruelling training regime to that of an Olympic athlete, praising her "incredible discipline".
That trait runs in the family - her father Glenn was unable to be contacted after his daughter's success because he was leading a trek along the Kokoda track.
Veteran mountaineer Alan Arnette paid tribute to Alyssa's determination, particularly after her past two attempts were thwarted, once by an earthquake and another by an avalanche.
"She should be rightfully proud of herself and the entire country should be celebrating," he told AAP.
"You have to take your hat off to her because she had the determination to go back.
"Climbing that mountain is not easy, there's a lot of suffering that goes on."
Meanwhile, Ms Palaszczuk congratulated Alyssa on reaching "the top of the world".
"Queenslanders are on top of world in sport, business and the arts, but Alyssa is literally there," she said.
"We wish Alyssa a successful and a safe return to Queensland. She's an inspiration."
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