Geeta Samota becomes first woman CISF officer to scale Mt Everest

In an extraordinary display of courage, grit and determination, Geeta Samota of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has etched her name into history books by becoming the first woman officer from the force to scale Mount Everest — the highest peak on Earth at 8,849 meters (29,032 feet).

Senior CISF officials hailed the achievement, calling it not just a personal triumph but a landmark moment for the force and a powerful symbol of the evolving role of women in India’s uniformed services.

“Mountains are great levellers. They don’t care about your gender. Only those with that X-factor can conquer those heights,” says Geeta.

Raised in the modest environs of Chak village in Rajasthan’s Sikar district, Geeta’s journey from rural India to the top of the world is a testament to perseverance and purpose.

Born into a family of four sisters, she was driven from a young age by a desire to break stereotypes and carve out a path of her own. A promising hockey player during her college years, a career-ending injury cut her sporting ambitions short — a setback that unexpectedly opened the door to a new pursuit: mountaineering.

Geeta joined the CISF in 2011, where she found mountaineering to be a largely untapped field. Seizing the opportunity, she enrolled in a basic mountaineering course at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) training institute in Auli in 2015, the only woman in her batch. Her passion and aptitude led her to complete the advanced course in 2017 — becoming the first CISF personnel to do so.

Her growing mountaineering résumé includes achievements few can match. In 2019, she became the first woman from any Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) to climb both Mount Satopanth (7,075 meters) in Uttarakhand and Mount Lobuche (6,119 meters) in Nepal.

After a planned 2021 Everest expedition was cancelled due to technical reasons, Geeta set her sights on a new challenge: the grueling “Seven Summits” — climbing the highest peak in each continent.

Between 2021 and 2022, she successfully scaled four of them: Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 meters) in Australia, Mount Elbrus (5,642 meters) in Russia, Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 meters) in Tanzania, and Mount Aconcagua (6,961 meters) in Argentina — completing the feat in just six months and 27 days, and becoming the fastest Indian woman to do so.

Back home, she also set a remarkable record in Ladakh’s remote Rupshu region by climbing five peaks — three above 6,000 meters and two over 5,000 meters — in just three days.

For her trailblazing accomplishments, Geeta has been honored with several awards, including the International Women’s Day Award 2023 by the Delhi Commission for Women and the “Giving Wings to Dreams Award 2023” by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Her historic Everest summit is more than a personal milestone — it’s a call to action and a source of inspiration. Encouraged by her feat, the CISF now plans to send its first full mountaineering team to Everest in 2026.