Everester and Padma Shri Premlata Agarwal, 54, will receive the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards this year.

The ace climber who redefined middle age for many women will receive the honour from President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on August 29, which India celebrates as National Sports Day.

The Union ministry of youth affairs and sports website describes Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award as the highest national recognition for outstanding achievement in the field of adventure on land, sea and air. It is on a par with the Arjuna Award for sporting excellence.

Each recipient gets Rs 5 lakh and a certificate.

"I got the news yesterday (Saturday) and felt elated. I owe my achievements to Tata Steel and my mentor (Everester) Bachendri Pal," said the Jugsalai homemaker who on May 20, 2011, became the oldest Indian woman and the first from Jharkhand to conquer the Everest at age 48.

Besides Premalata, three others - Rohan More Dattatreya, Ved Prakash Sharma and Ashok Abe - have been selected for the award this year.

Different from women around her, in 2000 Premlata, with full support of husband Vimal Agarwal and two daughters Priyansha and Rajshri, completed an Adventure Course in Mountaineering from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (Uttarkashi).

Then, she went on to do a basic mountaineering course from Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, in 2001 and her Advanced Course in Mountaineering from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (Uttarkashi) in 2003.

Premlata is the first Indian woman to scale the Seven Summits, the seven highest continental peaks of the world, Mt McKinley (North America) and Mt Carstensz (Indonesia). Among her many achievements are scaling Mt Aconcagua (South America), Mt Elbrus (Russia), Mt Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), and leading an all-women team to the Everest base camp to an altitude of 18,000ft.

Premlata also looks after Beyond Fitness, a Tata Steel Adventure Foundation programme. "I try to bridge the gap between fitness and adventure. People are scared of adventure but it's fun. I tell everyone to stay fit and increase stamina and then accompany them to a trek," she said.