Wing Commander Nirupama Pandey is an Indian mountaineer. She is the first person from

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

to have scaled

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 ...

on 25 May 2011 at 1015 hrs (IST). Nirupama was part of the first-ever all-woman IAF team comprising flight lieutenant Nivedita Choudhary and flight lieutenant Rajika Sharma. Her other climbs include Mount

Stok Kangri Stok Kangri () is the highest mountain in the Stok Range of the Zazkar Mountains a Trans-Himalayan mountain in the Ladakh region of north India. The peak is located in Hemis National Park, 12 km southwest of the trailhead () in the villa ...

(6121m) and Mount Golap Kangri (6100m) in Leh, Mount Kamet (7,757m) and Mount Abhigamin (7357m) in

Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom * Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India *Gar ...

and Mount Saser Kangri I (7672m) in

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...

, Mt Trishul 7120m ( Garhwal Region), Mt Manirang 6593m ( Himachal Region)

Early life

Nirupama Pandey was born in the village of Jamo Jalalpur in Siwan district, the daughter of Shri Rajendra Pandey and Srimati Uma Pandey. She did her schooling from

Kendriya Vidyalaya The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan () is a system of central government schools in India that are instituted under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, Government of India. , it has a total of 1,248 schools in India, and three abroad in Moscow ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

and graduated in

Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

and MBA in Finance and Marketing from Ness Wadia College of Commerce,

. In college, she was part of the

National Cadet Corps National Cadet Corps may refer to: *Bangladesh National Cadet Corps *National Cadet Corps (Ghana) *National Cadet Corps (India) *National Cadet Corps (Pakistan) *National Cadet Corps (Singapore) *National Cadet Corps (Sri Lanka) The National ...

and often went trekking. She started her

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 ...

career in 2007 by undergoing rigorous training at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering located at Uttarkashi. In 2003, she joined the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

as a flying officer.

Family

In August 2009, Nirupama Pandey married

Squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

Prakash Jha, who hails from Benipatti in Madhubani,

Everest climb

Sqn Ldr Nirupama Pandey reached the summit of

on 25 May 2011 at 1015 hrs (IST), forming one of the first three women IAF officers, to create history. The team of eleven women officers was accompanied by one medical officer and eight male air warriors who were qualified mountaineers.

Awards

In August 2011 Bihar CM Sri

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unite ...

felicitated Squadron leader Nirupama Pandey in

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

for unfurling tricolour at Mount Everest. She was awarded Ati Vishisth Khel Samman by the Govt of Bihar.

References

External links