Countless people have lost their lives trying to scale the fearsome Mount Everest. There are a select few, brave and bold, who can claim the world’s highest summit under their catalogue of achievements. For 27-year-old Baljeet Kaur however, the fearsome, nearly 9,000 metres tall peak is just one of the names on her impressive mountain climbing CV.
Baljeet Kaur from Himachal Pradesh is the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest, Kanchenjunga, Annaporna and Lhotse in less than an impressive 30 days.
Baljeet Kaur has many firsts to her name. The 27-year-old is the first woman to scale five 8,000m peaks in less than 30 days. She has also climbed two 8,000m peaks with no supplemental oxygen, including Mount Annapurna.
Ever since she was a child, Baljeet has aimed high with ambition. She started her journey by climbing small hills near her childhood village. But her love for mountaineering started during an NCC camp when she was 20. Since then, her passion for climbing has been fueled by her boundless ambition and no mountain has been too high for this brave woman.
But such lofty goals, also require a heap of funds. She recalls that she used to work in people’s houses, cleaning and cooking after college hours to make money. She was able to make a full meal by the time she was 8. In order to meet the monetary requirements, she ran a crowdfunding campaign to help support her goals. Her father is a bus driver, She recalls her mother selling her jewellery to support her expeditions.
She has made the highest, most dangerous mountains submit to her ambition. She conquered Mount Annapurna, Kanchenjunga, Everest and Lhotse in less than a month. Baljeet Kaur is the first and only Indian to climb five 8,000 metre peaks in the span of a single season.