Solan's Baljeet summits Mt Everest

Ambika Sharma

Solan, May 21

Baljeet Kaur, a Solan resident, successfully summited Mount Everest (8,848.46 m) with her guide Mingma Sherpa this morning. This is Baljeet’s third feat in this spring season. The duo had summited Mt Annapurna (8,091 m) on April 28 and Mt Kanchenjunga (8,586 m) on May 12. She posted her picture on her social media account holding the Indian flag. She said that the feat was achieved at 4.30 am.

Baljeet was also the first Indian woman mountaineer to successfully summit the Pumori peak (7,161 m) in Nepal in 2021. She battled a severe fund crunch while preparing for her dream to conquer the world’s highest peak. Her expedition was marred by uncertainty until mid-March. She is a resident of non-descript Panjrol village in Solan district and belongs to a poor family. She barely managed to collect enough funds from donors to join the March 25 expedition.

Faced fund crunch

• Baljeet Kaur had battled shortage of funds while preparing for this dream.
• She sent nearly 3,000 mails to various corporate houses in the hope of arranging Rs 25 lakh but managed only Rs 8 lakh from two Solan firms till March 22.

She had sent nearly 3,000 mails to various corporate houses in the hope of arranging Rs 25 lakh but managed only Rs 8 lakh from two Solan firms, Shiwalik Bimetals and Meridian Pharma, till March 22.

Local residents are elated at her success. Vinod Gupta, Managing Director, Meridian Pharma, Solan, who has been ardently supporting talented youths, said, “It is a matter of pride that a local girl has achieved this feat by her perseverance and hard work. More people should come forward to support such talented youths and the government should promote budding talents in rural areas”.

Having failed to scale Mt Everest by mere 300 m six years ago due to technical reasons, Baljeet’s resolve to scale the world’s highest peak was bolstered by this first achievement.

Satish Kumar, a Kasauli resident, who, too, had helped her collect funds, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to know that a local girl has achieved the big feat and this will inspire others”.

Baljeet developed an interest in mountaineering in school. Financial constraints, however, deterred her from pursuing this passion. Being the eldest of the three siblings, she had the onus of supporting her family and did odd jobs to make both ends meet.

She joined the NCC after getting admission to Degree College, Solan, where she got an opportunity in an NCC girls’ expedition to summit Mt Everest in 2016.