But her trainer Chase Tucker, of Big Mountain Training, stressed that the expedition wasn't over and the most dangerous part of climbing Everest was the days-long ordeal to climb back down. Alyssa Azar is on her third attempt to climb Mt Everest. "I think about the summit as halfway," he told AAP. In particular, Ms Azar 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." Alyssa Azar made her way to base camp four in good weather on Friday. 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. Alyssa Azar was in her tent at Mount Everest Base Camp last year when shockwaves from the devastating Nepal earthquake reached the mountain.

Mr Tucker said Ms Azar 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 Ms Azar'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 Ms Azar 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." Earlier

Queensland teen Alyssa Azar has succeeded in her bid to become the youngest Australian in history to scale Mount Everest. But her success came as an Australian woman aged in her 30s, and a Dutch climber, died on the world's highest peak. They are the first fatalities on the world's highest peak since expeditions resumed this year. It is understood the Australian died from altitude sickness, on her way down from Camp 4 to Camp 3. The bodies were at an elevation of 8000 metres and it would be a couple of days before they could airlift them to Kathmandu and hand them over to relatives, who had been informed. For Ms Azar, her climb this time went without a hitch.

In a message posted on her Facebook page Saturday night, the 19-year-old's achievement was verified. "We can confirm that Alyssa has successfully summitted Mt Everest. This has been a goal she has been determined to achieve for several years," the statement said. "Alyssa has had her share of set backs but has never wavered in her determination. "She is still on the mountain, and in good spirits. However the journey is not over for her. "The descent off the mountain is equally as challenging, it will be a couple of days before she is back into base camp."

This was Ms Azar's third trip to Nepal to tackle Everest. The avalanche in 2014 that left 16 people dead, and the Nepal earthquake in 2015 prevented her from reaching the summit, but she said both trips had left her better prepared for this attempt. "We know this part of the process very well and the lead-up to the expeditions," she said in February. "Sometimes the stress, the motions of prepping for Everest have become pretty normal at this point so I feel more prepared." She had about three seconds' warning before the April 2014 avalanche, courtesy of a loud roar. "I quickly zipped up the back of my tent and prepared myself," she said.

"Our training tells us to leave a pocket of air in the tent to allow time for people to get us out and that instinct kicked in. "My Sherpa guides were insistent we would keep going after the avalanche, but it wasn't possible." During last year's devastating Nepal earthquake, she was half asleep in her tent at Mount Everest Base Camp when the shockwaves reached the mountain. "The shaking started and at first I didn't really process what it was but then I looked out the back of my tent because I could hear this weird noise and I could see the avalanche coming towards our camp," she said. "Basically it was completely white. You couldn't see anything. And so I quickly zipped up my tent and I tried to hold it up as best as I could, at least a part of it so I would have enough air in case it buried me."

The snow buried half of her tent but she escaped without injury. Adventure has been a major part of Ms Azar's life since she was eight, when she completed her first challenge, crossing the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea. On Saturday mountaineering expert Alan Arnette said Ms Azar had to reach the summit within 24 hours to become the youngest Australian to conquer Everest, with heavy snow forecast over the next few days. Due to her limited oxygen supply, and delay would have meant she would not likely get another chance to reach the summit soon. "She's on her push right now and if she makes it and comes down then everything is great, but if she has to turn around there's probably no second chance for her [this visit]," mountaineering expert and Everest blogger Alan Arnette said.

She has also completed treks such as Everest Base Camp, Kokoda, Mount Kosciuszko, Mount Kilimanjaro and the Aussie 10 – the highest peaks in Australia. After completing Kilimanjaro in 2011, Ms Azar undertook a mountaineering course in New Zealand. On top of her impressive trekking record, she climbed in South America and Nepal on various expeditions to different peaks including Ama Dablam, Aconcagua, Manaslu and two Everest Expeditions. Ms Azar's father, Glenn Azar, said her achievement had "been many years in the making and a lot of work". News of Ms Azar's success came as a Nepal Tourism Ministry spokesman said two foreign climbers had died while climbing the mountain.

"One Dutch citizen died due to altitude sickness. Another foreign climber also died due to altitude sickness," said Nepal Tourism Ministry spokesman Gyanendra Shrestha. The Dutch mountaineer, Eric Arnold, died just after reaching the top of the mountain in what was his fifth attempt, according to Welingelichte Kringen. Pasang Phurba of the Seven Summit Treks agency in Kathmandu said Mr Arnold died near the South Col on Friday night, and that attempts were being made to bring down his body. Arnold was from the Dutch city of Rotterdam, according to his Twitter account. The nationality of the second climber has not yet been confirmed.

They are the first fatalities on the world's highest peak since expeditions resumed this year. Everest expeditions in 2014 were cancelled after 16 Sherpas died in an icefall avalanche. In 2015, another avalanche triggered by a 7.8-magnitude quake killed 19 mountaineers at the Everest Base Camp, prompting the cancellation of all trips. Loading Hundreds of climbers have scaled the 8850-metre peak since last week because of favourable weather conditions. with AAP