JOURNAL:ANYTHINGTODECLARELegendary mountaineer and the first Indian woman
to scale Mt Everest, Bachendri Pal discusses the momentous
expedition, how the mountains have always been an integral
part of her life and how she plans on devoting her future
to outdoor adventure.
No mountain
too high
I had always excelled in sports at school
and in college. My rugged lifestyle, thanks to being
born and brought up in the mountains, helped me ace
the Basic Mountaineering Course at the Nehru Institute
of Mountaineering. This was in 1981; I was 27. Thereafter,
I completed the Advanced course, and then received an
invitation from the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF)
to attend a selection trial for the first Indian mixed expedition
to Mt Everest. I was called for the first Pre Everest trial
to Mt Gangotri-I in 1982, followed by later expeditions
that finally acclimatised me enough to get to the summit.On May 23, 1984, I became the first Indian
woman to scale Mt Everest. The 1984 expedition
was the first mixed expedition to the summit – the expeditions
of 1960, 1962 and 1965 had been all-male. For me,
it was a physical, mental and psychological event all rolled
into one big experience. Meeting Smt Indira Gandhi
before we embarked on the journey and hearing her say
that she wanted to see at least one Indian woman atop
Everest majorly boosted my confidence and self belief.The expedition did not come without challenges.
A massive avalanche hit us at Camp III, which was set up
on the ice-crusted Lhotse Face on a steep, almost-50 ̊ incline.
Miraculously, all of us managed to make it out alive.
On May 23, when Ang Dorjee, who had already climbed
Everest once, asked me to climb with him, it was a moment
of honour. He climbed quickly; I had no problem keeping
up. We stepped cautiously on the steep icy, knife-edge-like
face of the mountain and finally reached the face of the
Hillary step. Knowing that the summit was just about 200ft
away renewed my vigour and, finally, around 1.07pm,
I stood atop Mt Everest, the first Indian woman to have
ever done so.Using the adventure medium to promote
managerial skills and real life skills has
beenanother exciting, challenging phase.
In July1984, TATA’s full-fledged Department of Adventure
Programmes was set up to empower me to run its
Corporate Adventure Programmes. These were
structured to introduce people to new skills like rock
climbing, abseiling, caving and obstacle crossing,
thereby giving them a sense of achievement
and the confidence to overcome tough situations.
I also helped organise and lead the first
international expedition to Mt Everest – the
Indo-Nepalese Women’s Everest Expedition 1993.I am looking forward to devoting
mytime and energy to the School of Outdoor
Leadership (SOL). It aims at leadership development
through the ‘outdoor adventure’ medium and I hope
it grows to become one of the best institutes of its kind.
I will also continue to guide the Tata Steel Adventure
Foundation (TSAF) programmes. I’m already thinking
of a trans Himalayan trek across the mountains from
Arunachal to Leh, including taking on a team of women
above 50 years of age.