How Bachendri Pal's 43 minutes on Everest made her India's first woman to summit

India Today

24-05-2025

A pahadi girl with a dream in her eyes stood still at the top of the world. On the afternoon of May 23, 1984, at 1:07 pm, Bachendri Pal, a young woman from the hills of Uttarakhand, became the first Indian woman to summit Mount Everest.Climbing Mount Everest is still a formidable task, demanding not only determination and courage but also fearlessness and an almost obsessive drive.advertisementJust last year, when young Indian girl Kamya Karthikeyan climbed Mount Everest, she became the youngest Indian to do so -- and one of the youngest in the world. Her achievement drew applause from across the country.
Coming back to Bachendri Pal -- when she made her climb possible, she became a source of inspiration not only for girls but for millions who dare to challenge adversity.Her journey and love for the mountains began at the tender age of 12, when she undertook her first climb. Despite falling ill and missing the training camp, she did not let that stop her from summiting Everest.BACHENDRI PAL'S EARLY YEARSThat one moment was the result of years of struggle and a passion that kept alive in the heart of Bichendri pal. Born on May 24, 1954, in Nakuri village, Tehri Garhwal, Bachendri was one of seven children in a humble household.advertisementHer father, Kishan Singh Pal, earned a living trading goods with Tibet, transporting supplies by mule across the border. A devastating flood in 1943 left the family homeless. Her father later turned to wool work and farming to support them.
Despite financial challenges, Bachendri pursued her education, completing an MA in Sanskrit and a BEd But her heart belonged to the mountains.She had her first taste of mountaineering at the age of 12, when she and her friends climbed a 4,000-metre peak, skipping Sunday school to do so. They had no water, got stranded overnight, and returned to scoldings -- not praise. Still, the mountains called to her.A very rare instance of her childhood had instilled fear in her that left no way in future. Once, when she interrupted her father during his Ramayana reading which made him lose his temper and flung her off a slope.A tree branch saved her from injury. That brush with danger never left her.In her autobiography, Everest: My Journey to the Top, she described how challenges only made her stronger, and how she refused to believe that anything was out of reach.TURNING DREAMS INTO REALITYadvertisementWhen Bachendri Pal saw a photograph of the Prime Minister meeting schoolchildren, she said, 'I'll meet Indira Gandhi.' When cars passed through her village, she declared, 'I'll have one too.' The same went for planes -- she would fly in one someday.In 1982, while training at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi, she scaled Mt Gangotri and Mt Rudragaria.
Bachendri Pal with late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (Image: Uttarakhand Government archives)
As an instructor at the National Adventure Foundation, she was later selected for a women's mountaineering scholarship and helped launch the Bhagirathi Seven-Sisters Adventure Club to promote adventure sports among girls.Meeting her childhood hero, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, was a milestone. Though she stood right beside him, she couldn't gather the courage to speak. But his presence only strengthened her resolve.During the Everest '84 selection camp, she fell ill and missed crucial training.advertisementYet her steady progress up the slopes impressed her instructors. When the camp ended, most trainees rushed down the mountainside.Bachendri moved at a slow, deliberate pace. Major Prem Chand watched her and said, 'That is the pace you will need for Everest.'The expedition began with promise, but a massive avalanche at Lhotse Glacier on May 16 nearly ended it. Tents were crushed. Climbers were injured. Many turned back. Bachendri stayed.'I was jolted awake. Something hit me hard. It was an avalanche,' she recalled in an interview later. When asked if she was scared, she admitted she was. But when asked if she wanted to quit, her answer was firm: 'No.'On May 23 1984, just a day before her 30th birthday, she climbed the final stretch through freezing winds and sheets of ice with a few remaining teammates, including Ang Dorjee, the Sherpa guide.And at 1:07 pm, it was shivering cold at Mount Everest, the nose was cold then, then Bachendri Pal made history -- not with fanfare, but with quiet strength.She spent 43 minutes on the tallest peak in the world; her name has echoed through history ever since, and she will forever be remembered as the first Indian woman to achieve the feat."
(Image: Tata Steel Adventure Foundation)
advertisementBEYOND MOUNT EVERESTBachendri Pal did not stop at the summit of Mount Everest; she went on to inspire others by leading expeditions to other high mountain peaks.In 1993, Bachendri Pal led the first all-women Indo-Nepalese Everest expedition, marking a milestone in Indian mountaineering.The following year, she joined the first women's rafting voyage down the Ganges, covering 2,155 km from Haridwar to Calcutta in 39 days.In 1997, with seven other women, she undertook the first Indian Women Trans-Himalayan Expedition, marching from Arunachal to Siachen.She connected the east to the west of India by climbing the highest peaks in Arunachal and then moving on to Siachen -- the most difficult terrain, where temperatures hover below -50 degrees for most of the year.The group led by Bachendri crossed 40 high passes and reached 20,100 ft -- no nation had done so before.Her journey from a curious girl in a hill village to the summit of Everest is not just a story of personal achievement -- it's a reminder that with determination, even the tallest mountains can be scaled.