Premlata Agrawal Explained

Premlata Agrawal
Birth Name:Premlata Garg
Birth Place:Darjeeling, West Bengal, India
Nationality:Indian
Known For:Summiting Mount Everest (2011)The first Indian woman - mountaineer to complete the seven summits and the oldest Indian women mountaineer to summit Mount Everest at an age of 48 years
Occupation:Mountain climber
Spouse:Vimal Agarwal

Premlata Agrawal (born 1963) is the first Indian woman to scale the Seven Summits, the seven highest continental peaks of the world.[1] [2] She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013 and Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in 2017 for her achievements in the field of mountaineering.[3] On 17 May 2011, she became the oldest Indian woman to have scaled the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest (29,032 ft.); at the age of 48 years at that time while Sangeeta Sindhi Bahl hailing from Jammu and Kashmir broke Premlata's record on 19 May 2018 and became the oldest Indian woman to scale Mount Everest doing it at the age of 53.[4] [5]

Prior to this, she took part in an Island Peak Expedition in Nepal (20,600 ft) in 2004; the Karakoram Pass (18,300 ft) and Mt. Saltoro Kangri (20,150 ft) in 2006. She participated in the First Indian Women's Thar Desert Expedition in 2007 and again in 2015; a 40 day camel safari from Bhuj in Gujarat to the Wagah Border (Indo-Pak border) in Punjab. Her feats have earned her a listing in the Limca Book of Records.[6] [7]

Career

She started mountaineering at the age of 36, after taking part in a hill climbing competition in Jamshedpur. Soon she discovered her passion for climbing. Subsequently she was trained and mentored by Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest in 1984.[8]

Mount Everest climb 2011

She was part of a 22-member eco-Everest expedition team, the Indian contingent also included Sunita Singh, Narendar Singh, Pawan Grewal, Sushma and Vikas Kaushik, besides climbers Rodrigo Raineri of Brazil and David Liano of Mexico. She spent over a month climbing around Everest Base Camps to acclimatise, and also did a climbing exercise at 20,300-feet-high Island Peak in the Himalayas.[7] She started the main climb on 6 May when climbed from the Everest base camp at 18,000 feet to Camp 2 at 22,000 feet. However, then on she used supplemental oxygen, and reached Camp 3 at 23,000 feet and Camp 4 at 26,000 feet. The multinational trekking team led by Dawa Steven Sherpa took an overnight trek to climb the summit. They started at 11pm from the South Col (Camp 4 at 26,000 ft) route from the Nepal side and touched the summit at 9.35am on 20 May 2011, which is a height of 29,032 ft.[5] An hour before reaching the summit she lost one of her gloves, and decided to turn back as it was not possible to climb such height without a glove, just then she saw a pair of gloves lying on the snow, left by someone.[9]

Seven Summits climbing details [10]

No. Image peakElevationContinent Date of Summit
1Mount Everest88480NaN0Asia20 May 2011
2Aconcagua69610NaN0South America10 February 2012
3Denali61940NaN0North America23 May 2013
4Kilimanjaro58950NaN0Africa6 June 2008
5Mount Elbrus56420NaN0Europe12 August 2012
6Mount Vinson48920NaN0Antarctica5 January 2013
7Puncak Jaya48840NaN0Australia22 October 2013

Personal life

She is a native of Darjeeling, West Bengal, her father Ramawtar Garg is a businessman. Presently she is working with Tata Steel as an officer and lives in Jugsalai town, of Jamshedpur in East Singhbhum district in the state. She is married to Vimal Agarwal, a senior journalist. The couple have two daughters, one of whom is married.[11]

Press coverage

Premlata Agarwal was named top Indian women achievers in 2012 by indiatimes.com.[12]

In 2016, she was featured in a video saluting iron strong women of India by Tata Salt.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mountaineer Premlata scales seven summits. https://archive.today/20130629121227/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-01/india/39674155_1_woman-mountaineer-premlata-agrawal-mountaineer-premlata. dead. 2013-06-29. The Times of India. 2016-06-25.
  2. News: Premlata, the first Indian woman to conquer seven Summits of the world. 2013-05-31. The Hindu. en-IN. 0971-751X. 2016-06-25.
  3. Web site: Padma Awards. 27 January 2013. pib. 27 January 2013.
  4. News: Gurgaon mountaineer Sangeeta becomes oldest Indian woman to climb Mt Everest. 2018-05-23. The Indian Express. en-IN. 2018-05-25.
  5. News: On the top of the world - Steel city mom oldest Indian woman to scale Everest . https://archive.today/20130203115613/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110521/jsp/frontpage/story_14009988.jsp . dead . 3 February 2013 . The Telegraph (Kolkata). 21 May 2011 . Calcutta, India . Jayesh . Thaker.
  6. News: 45-year-old housewife to climb Mount Everest . . 7 Mar 2011 .
  7. News: Mother of two becomes oldest Indian woman to climb Mount Everest. . 20 May 2011.
  8. News: 'Sherpas were sending me back' . https://archive.today/20130203174715/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110603/jsp/frontpage/story_14065257.jsp . dead . 3 February 2013 . The Telegraph . 3 June 2011 . Calcutta, India . Shashank . Shekhar . Jayesh . Thaker.
  9. News: Premlata oldest Indian woman to scale Everest . https://web.archive.org/web/20110604154624/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/45-yearold-indian-woman-scales-mt-everest/155804-3.html . dead . 4 June 2011 . . 1 Jun 2011 .
  10. Web site: Premlata Agarwal- seven-summits climbing details -. www.indianexpress.com.
  11. News: Premlata Agarwal becomes oldest Indian woman to scale Mt Everest . . 20 May 2011 .
  12. Web site: I-Day Special: India's Top 10 Women Achievers. 15 August 2012 . 2016-06-25.