Premlata Agarwal

Jamshedpur, May 7: City-based mountaineer Premlata Agarwal is on the top of the world or as close as she can get without wings.

And behind the success of this 45-year-old mother of two — who reached the second base camp of Mt Everest at 23,000 ft, crossing Khumbu Ice Fall or the infamous Death Zone — is none other than the first Indian woman to have conquered the mother of all peaks, Bachendri Pal.

“I had a talk with Premlata when she returned to the first base camp at 18,000 ft on April 27 and she is ecstatic at having conquered the Death Zone,” Pal, who is the mentor of Premlata and chief of Tata Steel adventure programme, said.

Bachendri, who will lead an all women Indian team expedition to Snowman’s Trek in Bhutan next month, added that Premlata was making good and steady progress towards the peak.

“Premlata is a determined woman and an accredited mountaineer. I am confident that she will be able to conquer the peak as more than half the job of a mountaineer is done once he/she gets through the Khumbu Ice Falls,” said Pal, adding that Premlata was still involved in body adjustment and acclimatisation exercise.

Prodded for more details on the Death Zone, Bachendri who is a Padmashree award winner said, that the icefalls had a mind of their own.

“It is very unpredictable and you can’t gauge the depth of the valley from up there. A climber has to walk on aluminium ladders and hang on to thick ropes on both his sides while crossing the Khumbu. One wrong step and you are doomed,” Bachendri, who traversed the icefall in 1984, said.

Premlata, a resident of Jugsalai and a part of the international Everest expedition organised by the Asian Trekking Agency in Kathmandu, reached the first base camp on April 14 and has two more base camps to conquer before pushing for the peak. The team commenced its actual journey towards the peak on April 17.

“She (Premlata) is in touch with me over the mobile phone thanks largely to a tower that has been installed near the first base camp. After her team goes out of range, she will have to use a satellite phone to call me,” Bachendri said.

A release from Tata Steel, which is keeping a close tab on Premlata’s progress, today quoted expedition leader Dawa Stephen Sherpa as saying that the Jugsalai mountaineer was doing very well and has acclimatised, thus making her ready for the summit push.

Sherpa, who has been constantly monitoring the weather conditions for a possible window, has tentatively marked May 13 as the day of the summit climb.

On the final climb, Premlata will go from 18,000 ft to 22,000 ft on May 9. After a day’s rest, she will climb to 23,000 ft where she will start using oxygen due to thin air. The following day the mountaineer will target to scale 26,000 ft before the afternoon.

Premlata is scheduled to leave base camp 4 at around 10pm on May 12 and climb throughout the night so as to be on the peak at around 8am, the next morning.