Himachali becomes first blind Indian woman to scale Mt Everest

Chhonzin Angmo a tribal woman from a remote village in Himachal Pradeshs Kinnaur district suffers from total blindness but she has never let her visual impairment stand in the way of her dreamsAngmo who idolises Hellen Keller believes deeply in her words of wisdom The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no visionOn Monday she scripted history by becoming the first visuallyimpaired woman from India and the fifth such person in the world to scale Mt Everest planting the Tricolour on Earths highest mountainBorn in the remote Chango village along the IndiaTibet border Angmo lost her sight when she was eight years old She still went on to earn her graduation and masters degrees from Miranda House under the University of Delhi At present she works with the Union Bank of India as a customer service associate in DelhiHer father Amar Chand told PTI on Friday My daughter has made me proud and we all are very happy about her achievement However we do not know the exact details yet and are waiting for her returnThe news of Angmo scaling the worlds highest peak also brought cheer among locals of her villageYamchin her relative said Angmo was bold and determined since childhoodHer feat has brought happiness to the entire village she saidAngmos journey may have been full of challenges but she turned every challenge into an opportunityMy story has just begun my blindness is not my weakness but my strength she had earlier told PTIClimbing mountain peaks has been my childhood dream but financial constraints were a big challenge Now I will embark on scaling all the leftout peaks she had saidIn October 2024 Angmo became the first visuallyimpaired Indian woman to complete a trek to the Everest base camp located at an altitude of 5364 metresShe has scaled Mt Kang Yatsae 2 6250 metres in Ladakh and was also a member of the Divyang expedition team that scaled an unnamed peak at an altitude of about 6000 metres in the Union TerritoryHer feats even found mention in Prime Minister Narendra Modis Mann ki Baat radio broadcast as he recognised and praised her teamWith a passion for sports Angmo won a gold medal in swimming at the state level and participated in a nationallevel judo championship She has two bronze medals from nationallevel marathon events and participated in the Delhi Marathon three times as well as the Pink Marathon and the Delhi Vedanta Marathon She also played football at the zonal and the national levelsIn order to achieve her dream of scaling mountain peaks Angmo completed a basic mountaineering course from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports in 2016 and was adjudged the best traineeAn adventurer by heart she cycled from Manali to Khardung La one of the worlds highest motorable roads at an altitude of 18000 feet about 5486 metres in 10 days braving extreme temperatures in 2018 embarked on a cycling expedition through the Nilgiris region across three states in just six days in 2019 and completed the sevenday cycling expedition from Manali to Kalpa across the Spiti Valley and Kinnaur last JulyShe was also the only woman mountaineer of the team of people with disabilities that scaled the Siachen Glacier the worlds highest battlefield in 2021 under Operation Blue Freedom and set a New World RecordShe received the Sarvshresth Divyangjan National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities last year from President Droupadi Murmu She is also a recipient of the NAB Madhu Sharma Young Achiever Award International Day of Persons with Disabilities Award from the National Association for the Blind in Delhi and the Cavinkare Ability Mastery AwardsatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params