Santosh Yadav was the first woman to climb Mount Everest twice. The first time she scaled the peak was in 1992, and she was also the youngest woman in the world to climb the Everest then. She became interested in mountaineering after a chance encounter with a group of climbers in the Aravalli Hills, near Jaipur where she was studying. She enrolled for a course in rock climbing, and then there was no looking back. Climbing became a passion, and the mountains beckoned her.
She enrolled at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, in Uttarkashi without informing her parents, knowing that they would never give her permission if she asked. She had done her early schooling in the village of Joniyawas in Haryana, where she was born, and afterwards had had a hard time persuading her parents to send her to Jaipur for further studies. She came from an affluent family that was firmly rooted in tradition-girls had to be married off once they turned 14, and that was it. As it turned out her father was furious when he learnt that she was studying mountaineering. He was getting ready to go to Uttarkashi to bring her back when fate intervened he slipped on the stairs and broke an ankle.
Santosh was an avid student, and learnt quickly in 1986 she topped her class. A few years later, an iron-willed determination to succeed and a great capacity for physical endurance enabled her to set foot on the top of the world’s highest peak.
“It was such an incredible feeling” she said, later. I felt a wave of pride rushing through my veins.” She hoisted the Tricolour, and sank to her knees to pay homage to Sagarmata, the goddess of the mountain.
The following year she scaled Mount Everest again.
Picture Credit : Google
