Mountaineer Sheetal Raj to get Tenzing Norgay award

Daughter of a taxi driver, Sheetal Raj has been fond of climbing mountains since childhood. She has scaled some of the treacherous mountains in the world including Mount Kangchenjunga peak and Mount Everest. President Ram Nath Kovind will present the award to Sheetal at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi this month.

Haldwani (Uttarakhand): Sheetal Raj, the youngest mountaineer to scale the world's highest mountain peak Mount Everest, will be awarded the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2021 on November 13. President Ram Nath Kovind will present the award at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi.

A resident of the Salloda village of Pithoragarh district, Sheetal (25) is working in the Adventure Tourism Section of Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam. She had earlier climbed the 8,586 meters high Mount Kangchenjunga peak in 2018 and Mount Everest in 2019.

On 15 August 2021, Sheetal hoisted the Indian flag at the highest peak of Mount Elbrus in Europe. She has conquered other peaks including Trishul.

Sheetal is the youngest mountaineer from Uttarakhand to receive the award.

Earlier, Sheetal received the Tilu Rauteli Award from the Government of Uttarakhand will now get the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2021, the highest adventure honour of the Government of India.

Daughter of Uma Shankar Raj, a taxi driver and mother a housewife, Sheetal has been fond of climbing mountains since childhood. Since then she started climbing high peaks. Later she made mountaineering her goal.

AP Bajpai, manager of Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam, said that Sheetal Raj has made Uttarakhand proud with her achievement, while the department is also feeling proud.