Bachendri Pal Biography: Bachendri Pal earned a coveted position in Indian history by becoming the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain. An independent, fearless, and adventure-loving adolescent, has always desired to be a mountaineer. Bachendri Pal made history by becoming the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, a feat she accomplished by virtue of her hard work and pure determination.
Early Years
Bachendri Pal was born on May 24, 1954, in the Garhwal village of Nakuri to parents named Shri Kishan Singh Pal and Smt. Hansa Devi. Her father was a border trader who supplied India and Tibet with provisions. Bachendri Pal was a strong-willed, energetic youth who excelled in both academics and athletics from an early age. At the suggestion of her school principal, she was sent to college to pursue higher education. There, she participated actively in athletics and even won a gold medal in rifle shooting. Bachendri Pal went on to become the first female in her village to graduate high school. She subsequently completed her M.A. in Sanskrit and her B. Ed. She enrolled at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, which opened up a plethora of opportunities for her, in order to satisfy her desire for adventure.
Bachendri Pal Career
Bachendri Pal’s first taste of mountaineering excitement occurred while she was still in school, at the age of 12, when she and her companions scaled a 4,022-foot-high peak during a school picnic. During her training at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in 1982, she climbed Gangotri I (21,900 feet) and Rudugaria (19,091 feet). During this period, she was hired as an instructor at the National Adventure Foundation, a mountaineering school for women. Soon after completing her mountaineering course, she was given the opportunity to join the fourth expedition crew for the Everest-84, India’s Mount Everest Mission. In May of 1984, she and her team members began their ascent.
Nonetheless, a sudden landslip on the Lhotse glacier injured her and her crew members. Bachendri Pal remained unfazed and resumed her ascent until she reached the summit of Mt. Everest on May 23, 1984, at 1:07 p.m., thus becoming the first Indian woman to climb the mountain. She is currently the Chief of Adventure Programmes for the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation of the Tata Group. There, she provides training to the management teams in order to strengthen their team mentality by teaching them survival skills.
Awards and Commendations
Throughout her mountaineering career, Bachendri Pal received numerous awards and accolades. She was awarded the first Csr Gold Medal in 1984, the Padmashree Award in 1985, and the Arjuna Award in 1986. Her name was included in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1990 as the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. She received the National Adventure Award in 1994 and the Uttar Pradesh Government’s prestigious Yash Bharati Award in 1995. In 1997, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Garhwal and the prestigious Mahila Shiromani Award. This year marked her entry into the Limca Book of Records.
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Bachendri Pal Contribution
In addition to corporate training and scaling vast heights, Bachendri Pal has made significant contributions to the mountaineering and river rafting training of women. In 1985, Bachendri lead an Indo-Nepalese women’s team on the Everest Expedition. This expedition set seven world records and established a benchmark for mountaineering in India. She organised the Indo-Nepalese Women Everest Expedition in 1993 and participated in the Haridwar to Kolkata River Ganga Rafting Expedition in 1994. In addition, she conducted the First Indian Women Trans-Himalayan Expedition, which consisted of eight women and a 4,500-kilometer trek via Siachen Glacier.
