On 23rd May 1984, Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman mountaineer to climb Mount Everest.

May 22nd, 1984 alongwith other climbers in the team they started the ascent to the summit of Mount Everest, Bachendri was the only woman in this group. They continued the ascent climbing ‘vertical sheets of cold ice’, cold winds sometimes blowing at the speed of 100Km per hour, temperatures touching minus 30-40 degree celsius.

May 23rd, 1984 Bachendri Pal reached the summit of Mount Everest, creating history at 1:07pm IST, she was standing at the peak (29,028 feet) alongwith one other climber.

Born 24th May 1954 in Nakuri village, Uttarakashi district of Garhwal, Bachendri Pal started mountaineering at the tender age of twelve, when during a picnic alongwith several of her school mates they climbed 13,123 feet high peak. She went to become the first female graduate in her village. Continued and did her Masters Degree in Sanskrit and then her B.Ed.

After completing her studies she joined the ‘Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM). In 1982 whilst at NIM she climbed ‘Gangotri’ (21,900 feet) and ‘Rudugaria’ (19,091 feet).  In 1985 she led an Indo-Nepalese Everest Expedition  team comprising of only women. The expediton created 7 world records and set benchmarks for Indian mountaineering.

She is working as Chief of Adventure Program with Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, where she conducts high altitude training workshops for the corporate workforce.