Award-winning mountaineer Baljeet Kaur, who became the first and only Indian to climb five 8,000-metre peaks in a single season in March 2021, went missing on April 18 during one of the most dangerous treks in the world – the summit of Annapurna I. Her chances of survival were so bleak that the news of her death had gone viral.
Just hours later, though: she was found alive. It was a miracle, for no one expected her to survive a night without oxygen support at nearly 7,000 metres above sea level and in -40°C.
In an interview over phone from Nepal, the 27-year-old woman from Solan, Himachal Pradesh, recalls fighting hallucinations and having faith to stay alive. Ms. Kaur’s close shave with death is a sobering reminder of the risks and dangers associated with high-altitude mountaineering.
