Sydney: A mother and daughter team from Sydney Saturday scaled the world's highest mountain, Mt Everest, becoming the first such pair to have climbed the tallest peaks in all the seven continents. Cheryl Bart, chairwoman of the South Australian Film Commission, and her 23-year-old daughter Nikki began their ascent to the Everest summit April 1.

They reached the top after several setbacks, including the temporary confiscation of their communications gear amid security for the Beijing Olympic torch. Bitter cold marked the 8,850-metre Himalayan ascent.

Australian support team member Craig Middleton told the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC): "They only spend a very short time on the summit because of the oxygen deprivation at that height. So they now have to make their way down to one of the lower level camps."

Earlier, Cheryl radioed back to the base camp: "I'm on top of the world. The sun is just rising and it's just the most glorious spectacle ever, any time."

The pair has already climbed to the top of South America's Aconcagua mountain (6,962 metres), North America's McKinley-Denali (6,195 metres), Africa's Kilimanjaro (5,895 metres), Europe's Elbrus (5,642 metres), Antarctica's Vinson Massif (4,897 metres) and Australia's Mount Kosciuszko mountain (2,228 metres).