On Sunday, Baljeet became the only Indian woman mountaineer to scale four 8,000-metre peaks, including Mt Annapurna (April 28), Mt Kanchenjunga (May 12), Mt Everest (May 22), and Mt Lhotse (May 23) in one season.
She along with her guide Mingma Sherpa scaled Mt Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516-meter, early on Sunday – a day after she had scaled Mt Everest, the highest peak in the world standing tall at 8,848.86-metre.
The 27-year-old from Himachal Pradesh’s Panjrol village in Solan district is daughter of Amrik Singh, a bus driver with Himachal Road Transport Corporation.
Baljeet’s passion for mountaineering started after getting admission to Degree College where she enrolled herself with the National Cadet Corps (NCC).
At the age of 20, Baljeet was selected for a NCC expedition to Mt Deo Tibba followed by a team of 10 NCC mountaineers for an expedition to the 7,120-metre high Mt Trishul.
In 2016, Baljeet was part of NCC expedition to Mt Everest, a climb where the team reached 8,548-metre before the ascent was called off.
In 2021, she became the first Indian female mountaineer to successfully climb the 8,167-m high Mt Dhaulagiri.
Baljeet’s mother Shanti Devi told The Indian Express: “Meri beti ne jo kar dikhaya hai, woh toh hamare liye sabse uncha kam hai (Our daughter’s feat is the highest honour for us).”
With this achievement, Baljeet has ensured that her name will enter the record books.
Baljeet will be back in Kathmandu, Nepal, later this week before flying back to India.
