Arjuna awardee and celebrated mountaineer Rita Gombu Marwah, the first Indian woman who reached the 8,000-metre mark on Everest in 1984, died in Delhi on Wednesday.
She was 67 and had been battling cancer for some time.
She is survived by her husband, son and daughter.
The eldest daughter of Nawang Gombu, who was the nephew of Tenzing Norgay and the first person in the world to summit Everest twice, grew up in Darjeeling and later studied at JNU in Delhi.
She was the first woman vice-president of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.
Sunirmal Chakravarti, from Darjeeling, who was also senior to Rita at JNU, said she excelled in sports.
“She excelled in basketball and athletics in school, and she carried it into college and university, which later found its manifestation in her career,” said Chakravarti.
Rita went to Loreto Convent and then to St Joseph’s College (North Point) in
Darjeeling.
