Bachendri Pal Birthday Special: 11 Lesser-Known Things About the First Indian Woman to Scale Mount Everest As She Turns 66

Bachendri Pal is a special name in the Indian mountaineering history as she is the first Indian woman to reach the Mount Everest summit. Today, she is known for her pioneering role in promotion and organization of expeditions for women which she has been doing for the best part of three decades now. Through these programs, she has been able to inculcate leadership skills in several individuals successfully. A winner of Padma Shree and Padma Bhushan for bringing repute to the nation, Bachendri Pal, has opened up unorthodox fields for Indian women which were earlier considered to be male-dominated.

On her 66th birthday, we take a look at life and times of this fearless woman.

1. Bachendri Pal was born on 24th May 1954 in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand to Hansa Devi and Shri Kishan Singh Pal.

2. During one of her school picnics, she scaled a high peak of 13,123 ft at the age of 12. This was her first experience at mountaineering.

3. Bachendri Pal completed her BEd and MA from DAV Post Graduate College, Dehradun but her heart was set at scaling mountain peaks.

4. She had to face stiff resistance at home when she told her parents about her desire to become a mountaineer.

5. During her learning days at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, she climbed Mt Gangotri 1 ( 21,889 ft) and Mount Rudragaria ( 19,091 ft).

6. Bachendri Pal was part of Everest84, an Indian expedition consisting of six women and eleven men with an aim to scale Mount Everest.

7. The entourage met with an avalanche on their way up the Mount Everest which forced half of the team to drop out of the mission due to fatigue and injuries. Bachendri Pal though continued her journey upwards.

8. On 23rd May 1984, history was created as the team reached the summit of Mount Everest at 1:07 PM. She became the first Indian women to scale the peak of the highest mountain on planet earth.

9. In 1994, she led an all-women rafting expedition down the Ganges river covering roughly 2500 km.

10. Bachendri Pal has also led an all-woman team on successful 4000km transit of the Himalayas starting Arunachal Pradesh and ending at the Siachen Glacier.

11. In 2013 when floods ravaged her state Uttarakhand, she along with Premlata Agarwal, carried out relief and rescue operations.

The one message from Bachendri Pal’s journey to greatness that comes out vividly is that nothing is impossible in life. On behalf of Team Latestly, we wish her a happy birthday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 24, 2020 12:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).