Mamta Sodha is an Indian sportsperson, known for her successful 2010 attempt to scale
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
.
She was honoured by the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
, in 2014, by bestowing on her the
Padma Shri
Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the field of
mountaineering
Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...
sport.
Biography
Mamta Sodha was born on 1 November 1979,
at
Kaithal
Kaithal () is a city and municipal council in the Kaithal district of the Indian state of Haryana. Kaithal was previously a part of Karnal district and later, Kurukshetra district until 1 November 1989, when it became the headquarters of the K ...
, in the state of
Haryana
Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...
, in India, in a family with poor financial resources, as the eldest of three girls and two boys.
She lost her father, Laxman Dass Sodha, who worked as an inspector with the Haryana Food and Supplies Department, in 2004,
and her mother, Mewa Devi,
had to support the family with the help of her brothers.
Mamta did her schooling at a local school in Kaithal and college studies at the RKSD College, Kaithal from where she secured her graduate degree, getting high grades.
Subsequently, she passed her master's degree in
Physical Education
Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...
(MPhEd) from
Kurukshetra University
Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (KUK) is a university established on 11January 1956 in Kurukshetra, in the Indian state of Haryana, from the capital, Delhi. It is a member of Association of Commonwealth Universities.
History
The univer ...
, in 2005
and joined the same university at the Shaheed Baba Deep Singh College of Physical Education, Haryana, as a lecturer.
After the successful Everest climb, Government of Haryana absorbed her into
Haryana Police Force. Mamta Sodha is now a
Deputy Superintendent of Police with Haryana Police since 11 August 2010.
Sporting achievements
Mamta had a passion for rock climbing early on,
a trait encouraged by her father.
Soon, she made up her mind to climb Mount Everest one day for which she joined
Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, in the state of Uttarakhand.
Prior to embarking on the project, she scaled a few other peaks. She was a member of the IMF Golden Jubilee expedition team that scaled Phawararang peak in July 2008.
Two months later, in October, she climbed the Mun Peak with another team, while on an expedition at
McLeod Ganj
McLeod Ganj, also spelt McLeodganj, (pronounced ''Mc-loud-gunj'') is a suburb of Dharamshala in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is known as "Little Lhasa" or "Dhasa" (a short form of Dharamshala used mainly by Tibetans) because ...
.
In August 2009, she summited Shri Kanth Peak with an all-women team.
She has also scaled other peaks of varying heights such as Morni Peak,
Khüiten Peak, Inderhara Pass
and
Island Peak on various occasions. This was followed by an attempt on
Idland (Imja-tse) Peak which she successfully accomplished in April 2010, just prior to the Mount Everest expedition.
The total financial outlay for the Everest project was around 1.8 million.
Mamta collected the money by way of contributions from several agencies and individuals such as Haryana state government (300,000), PWD Minister, Randeep Singh Surjewala (51,000), Kurukshetra member of parliament,
Navin Jindal
Naveen Jindal (born 9 March 1970) is an Indian billionaire industrialist, and a former Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Kurukshetra, Haryana in the 14th and 15th Lok Sabha. He currently serves as the Chairman of Jindal Steel and Power ...
(500,000}, District Police Commissioner Amneet P Kumar (250,000) and various others
and the project started in April 2010, with the encouragement of previous Everest climbers
Bachendri Pal
Bachendri Pal (born 24 May 1954) is an Indian mountaineer. She is the first Indian woman to climb the summit of world's highest mountain, Mount Everest, what she did in 1984. She was awarded the third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan by Gov ...
and
Santosh Yadav
Santosh Yadav (born 10 October 1967) is an Indian mountaineer. She is the first woman in the world to climb Mount Everest twice and the first woman to successfully climb Mount Everest from Kangshung Face. She climbed the peak first in May 1992 ...
.
The expedition team consisted of 13 members, of which nine mountaineers were from United States, Denmark, Switzerland and Australia and the remaining four from India, including 16-year-old
Arjun Vajpai
Arjun Vajpai (born 9 June 1993) is an Indian mountaineer, who climbed Mount Everest in 2010 at the age of 16 years, 11 months and 18 days, becoming the youngest Indian to climb Everest at that time. He is a good climber. He broke a record set ...
.
The team was led by the legendary
Apa Sherpa
Apa (born Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa; 20 January 1960), nicknamed "Super Sherpa", is a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer who, until 2017, jointly with Phurba Tashi held the record for reaching the summit of Mount Everest more times than any other person. As ...
, who held the world record of 19 successful climbs of
Mount Everest. The team spent 40 days at
Khumbu Glacier
The Khumbu Glacier ( ne, खुम्बु हिमनदी) is located in the Khumbu region of northeastern Nepal between Mount Everest and the Lhotse-Nuptse ridge. With elevations of at its terminus to at its source, it is the world's high ...
, where the team had set up their base camp, for acclimatisation. The route was the traditional
South Col route in
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
. The team, after periodic stop overs at three or four camps en route, finally reached the top around 20 May 2010. At 10.24 am, on 22 May, 2010, Mamta Sodha summited Mount Everest.
After the Everest triumph, Mamta scaled the highest peak in Europe,
Mount Elbrus
Mount Elbrus ( rus, links=no, Эльбрус, r=Elbrus, p=ɪlʲˈbrus; kbd, Ӏуащхьэмахуэ, 'uaşhəmaxuə; krc, Минги тау, Mingi Taw) is the highest and most prominent peak in Russia and Europe. It is situated in the we ...
, in 2012.
Apart from being a mountaineer, Mamta Sodha excelled in
handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
, too.
She was a member of the Haryana state girls team which secured runner up position at the 21st Junior Girls' National Handball Championship, held at Agra in November 1998.
As a member of the
Kurukshetra University
Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (KUK) is a university established on 11January 1956 in Kurukshetra, in the Indian state of Haryana, from the capital, Delhi. It is a member of Association of Commonwealth Universities.
History
The univer ...
team, she was a winner at the All India Inter-University Handball tournament in December 1998.
In 2003, she was selected as a ''B1'' grade sportsperson in
Handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
by the Sports and Youth Welfare department of
Haryana Government.
Mamta Sodha is also a member of National Adventure Club.
Awards and recognitions
*
Padma Shri
Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
–
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
– 2014
*
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award
The Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, formerly known as the National Adventure Awards is the highest adventure sports honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Tenzing Norgay, one of the first two individuals to reach th ...
–
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
– 2010
* Cash Award 2.1 million –
Government of Haryana – 2010
* Certificate of successful Ascent on
Idland (Imja-tse) Peak – Nepal Mountaineering Association – 2010
See also
*
Apa Sherpa
Apa (born Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa; 20 January 1960), nicknamed "Super Sherpa", is a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer who, until 2017, jointly with Phurba Tashi held the record for reaching the summit of Mount Everest more times than any other person. As ...
*
Tenzing Norgay
*
Edmund Hillary
*
Bachendri Pal
Bachendri Pal (born 24 May 1954) is an Indian mountaineer. She is the first Indian woman to climb the summit of world's highest mountain, Mount Everest, what she did in 1984. She was awarded the third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan by Gov ...
*
Indian summiters of Mount Everest - Year wise
The first attempts to summit Mount Everest by Indians were in 1960. The first Indians to reach the summit were a group led by Captain M.S. Kohli in 1965. 422 Indians made a total of 465 attempts between 1965 and 2018. These include 43 repeat at ...
*
*
List of Mount Everest records of India
This is list of Mount Everest records of Indian nationals have achieved.
Records
* Chhanda Gayen became the first Indian to climb to the summit of any two Eight-thousanders - Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse in one go on 18 May 2013. She comple ...
*
List of Mount Everest records
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sodha, Mamta
1979 births
Living people
Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports
Indian female mountain climbers
Indian mountain climbers
Sportswomen from Haryana
Indian police officers
Kurukshetra University alumni
Indian female handball players
Indian summiters of Mount Everest
21st-century Indian women
21st-century Indian people
Indian women police officers
Mountain climbers from Haryana
Recipients of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award