Bachendri Pal will not allow a troubling knee to be a deterrent, especially when she has decided to trek to an altitude of 17,600 feet to reach Everest base camp.

The legendary climber, the first Indian woman to annex Mount Everest, flew to Kathmandu from Delhi on Wednesday, for a fortnight-long trek that is sure test her stamina and determination at age 62. But she knows she will prevail.

Bachendri will be there to give moral support to a team of nine experienced climbers, among them Hemant Gupta and Payo, whose summit attempt was foiled two years ago due to the devastating Nepal earthquake of 2015.

"My trip is aimed at empowering women. I want women to learn and accept challenges. I think I am fit and agile enough to end the rigours of another base camp expedition," she told The Telegraph on Tuesday.

Bachendri, whose successful summit climb was undertaken in 1984, suffered an injury while skiing near Rohtang Pass in 2010. She twisted her right knee while training at an altitude of 13,000 feet. The knee has been troubling her ever since.

But her love of mountains egged her on to join what will be her third trek to the Everest base camp.

"The trek will help Hemant and Payo acclimatise themselves. Moreover, I also wanted to pep up their spirits along the way. I am looking forward to it," Bachendri, a Padma Shree and now chief of Tata Steel adventure programmes, said.

Besides Hemant, who is manager of Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF), and Payo, who is a Tata Steel loco traffic employee, Team Bachendri comprises Everester Premlata Agarwal, Swarnlata Darai (Odisha), Shanti Hembrom (Jharkhand), Poonam Rana, Amla Rawat (both Uttarakhand), V Saraswati (BSF) and senior TSAF instructor Sandeep Tolia.

Bachendri is heading for the base camp after 24 years. She led an Indo-Nepalese women's expedition to Everest in 1993. She did not summit, but helped team members reach the 29,029 feet peak. She waited at an altitude of 23,000 feet before team members joined her for the descent.

This time, Team Bachendri is taking a different, yet no less arduous route. The bravehearts will trek to the Gokyo Everest base camp via the Jiri route. They will reach Lukla after a week. They will continue on the Everest trail till Namche from where they would go towards Gokyoridge touching 17,500 feet and cross two high mountain passes, including Lobuche base (17,000-plus feet), before arriving at the base camp.

"I am excited and hopeful ... We expect to summit between May 10-25," Hemant, an IITian, said.

Payo said they were both confident.

"Sab kuch theek raha to Everest par honge (If all goes well, we'll be on Everest," she said.