Bachendri Pal

Bachendri Pal is an Indian mountaineer who, on 23 May 1984, became the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. She is also widely recognised for her work in training young mountaineers and leading all-women adventure expeditions in India.

Background

Bachendri Pal was born into a Bhotiya family in Nakuri, a village in Uttarkashi district, near the Garhwal Himalaya. She grew up in a region with a long tradition of high-altitude life and trade, and developed an early interest in climbing the surrounding hills. She completed her schooling locally and later earned an M.A. and a B.Ed. degree.

She trained at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi, where she was eventually appointed as an instructor. Her early Himalayan climbs included Gangotri (6,672 m) and Rudugaira (5,819 m).

1984 Everest expedition

Pal was part of the Indian expedition to Mount Everest organised by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, led by Colonel Darshan Kumar Khullar. On 23 May 1984, climbing along the South Col route, she reached the summit at 8,848 m, becoming the first Indian woman and the fifth woman in the world at that time to do so. Her summit partner was the Sherpa climber Ang Dorjee.

Later career

After Everest, Pal led several pioneering all-women expeditions, including a 1993 Indo-Nepalese women's team to Everest and a long traverse of the Himalaya by women climbers. She joined the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, based in Jamshedpur, where she headed efforts to train young people, particularly women and tribal youth, in mountaineering and outdoor leadership.

Notable expeditions and journeys she has led or been associated with include:

• Indo-Nepalese Women's Mount Everest Expedition, 1993.
• The Great Indian Women's Rafting Voyage along the Ganga from Haridwar to Kolkata, 1994.
• The First Indian Women's Trans-Himalayan Expedition, 1997, traversing from Arunachal Pradesh to Siachen.
• Mission Gangotri – Save the Glaciers expeditions led under the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation banner.

Honours and recognition

• Padma Shri, Government of India, 1984.
• Gold Medal for Excellence in Mountaineering, Indian Mountaineering Foundation.
• Arjuna Award, 1986.
• Listed in the Limca Book of Records for various Indian women's adventure firsts.
• National Adventure Award, Government of India.
• Padma Bhushan, Government of India, 2019.

Significance

Pal's 1984 ascent is regarded as a milestone in Indian sport and in the history of women's mountaineering in India. By demonstrating that women from a Himalayan village background could lead high-altitude expeditions, and by subsequently building training programmes for young climbers, she contributed to broadening participation in adventure sports in the country, particularly among women and youth from underrepresented regions.

Related topics

• Mount Everest
• Nehru Institute of Mountaineering
• Indian Mountaineering Foundation
• Tata Steel Adventure Foundation
• Padma Bhushan
• Arjuna Award
• Uttarkashi district
• Women in mountaineering

References

• Wikidata entry: Q492241
• Bachendri Pal, Everest: My Journey to the Top (autobiographical account).
• Indian Mountaineering Foundation expedition records, 1984.