| Premlata Agarwal | |
|---|---|
| Born | Premlata Garg 1966 (age 45–46) Jharkhand |
| Residence | Jugsalai, Jamshedpur |
| Occupation | mountain climber |
| Known for | Summiting Mount Everest (2011) |
Premlata Agarwal (born 1966) is the Indian mountain climber, who on May 20, 2011 became the oldest Indian woman to have scaled the world's tallest peak, the Mount Everest (29,029 ft.), at the age of 45 years. She also became the first person from Jharkhand state to go an expedition to the Mount Everest.[1][2] Priot to this she took part in 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 and the First Indian Women’s Thar Desert Expedition in 2007, a 40-day camel safari from Bhuj in Gujarat to the Wagah Border (Indo-Pak border) in Punjab. Her feats have also got a listed in in the Limca Book of Records.[3][1][4]
She started mountaineering at the age of 37, after taking part in a hill climbing competition in Jamshedpur, soon she discovered her passion for climbing. Subsequently she was trained and mentored by and former Everest summiter in 1984, Bachendri Pal. [5][6]
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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 a 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.[4] She started the main climb on May 6 when climbed from the Everest base camp at 18,000 feet to Camp 2 at 22,000 feet. However, then on she used artificial 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 South Col (Camp 4 at 26,000ft) route from Nepal side and touched the summit at 9.35am on May 20, 2011, which is height of the 29,029 ft. [1] An hour before reaching the summit she lost one of gloves, and was deciding 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. [6]
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She is a native of Jharkhand, her father Ramawtar Garg is a businessman. Presently she is a housewife and lives in Jugsalai town, of Jamshedpur in East Singhbhum district in the state. [2] She is married to Vimal Agarwal, a senior journalist. The couple have two daughters, one of whom is married.[2] She is also the first woman from the Marwari community to scale Everest.[4]