When She Stepped On The Snow White

Clad in a mountaineer suit, she stepped on the white snow and her feet automatically pushed through all the barriers and when she finally reached the top, she waved her hands with a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

When Bachendri Pal received the Padma Bhushan Award for her achievement in climbing the highest mountain peak; Source : Sportsmatik

Snow covered mountains peaked through the thick fogs. As silent and peaceful as a rishi while doing meditation, the brown triangular structures stand as straight as a line. But what happens when someone disturbs a rishi while he is meditating? According to some famous mythological stories, they are bound to curse you. Avalanches, rockfall, icefall and more natural hazards come to being when these majestic mountains are disturbed from their peaceful sleep.

Mountains have a long history buried underneath their hard and rocky surface. Be it the end number of failed attempts of people to climb the mountain or be it the huge number of people who have been successful in taming the wild heights. One such woman who had the courage of climbing through the rocky terrain with the one and only mission of reaching the top and seeing the world from a new dimension, was India’s very own daughter- Bachendri Pal.

Born only five days before the first anniversary of the original ascension of Mount Everest by two amazing mountaineers- Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, God himself wrote her destiny in golden letters on her birth certificate. A conservative family wanting her to become a school teacher never knew that their daughter was going to become a famous chapter of those same school books.

The magical mountains of Uttarakhand welcomed his daughter, Bachendri with open arms. She played in the arms of those frightful mountains, climbed atop like she was climbing a ladder and enjoyed the cool and fresh mountain breeze that used to appreciate her skills. Pal’s journey started when she scaled a 13,123 ft. high peak in a school picnic.

Mountains were like her very own secret-keepers. Hiding from the strict eyes of her parents, she used to sit near the mountains and speak out her heart.

The time had finally come when she had to put her mountaineering skills to test when she was given once in a lifetime opportunity to climb one of the mightiest peaks of the world called Mount Everest, the youngest of all the mountains in the world. It was the year 1984 when those majestic peaks hollered with her name.

India had formed a team of six women and eleven men and the name of the team was “Everest ’84”. Bachendri was one of the team members. They started with one single aim, to tame the wild height of Sagarmatha (Everest in Nepalese). The team soared high in the sky to reach Kathmandu in March 1984 and from here started their journey of success and dedication towards these rocky structures.

When Bachendri saw the mountains, she imagined a smaller version of herself happily climbing the mountain as if it was a piece of cake. This brought a sense of inner strength in her which pushed her towards those dangerous heights.

The team set its auspicious foot on its ascent in May 1984. Before they could advance any further, they were stuck in a disaster. An avalanche buried their camp and more than half the team members stepped back from their mission and determination and decided to return home due to fatigue and injuries.

Talking about Bachendri, she was entirely covered with a huge ice block, and was going to touch her deathbed quite soon. Luckily some of her team-mates cut out the ice block and rescued her.

Even after facing a life and death situation, her courage and determination to reach the top did not deter. On 22 May 1984, Ang Dorjee and some other mountaineers joined Bachendri in her journey to the top where she coincidentally was the only woman in the entire group. The team reached the South Col and spent the night there at a camp. The next day, they again started their tedious hike.

Climbing through the vertical ice sheets, surviving the 100 kilometres per hour wind speed and temperature touching -30 to -40 degree centigrade, the team finally got its Aha! Moment on 23rd May 1984 at 1:07 pm.

A date and time that is engraved on the rock of those mountains. History was created by Bachendri Pal, a woman who dared to step on all those rocks and mountains of the patriarchal society and reach to the top.

And the best part about this amazing journey comes when we get to know that she achieved this feat just a day before her 30th birthday and obviously, six days before the 31st anniversary of the first ascension of Mount Everest by her idols, Tenzing and Edmund!