Nisha Bhote, Mountaineer
Nisha Bhote was 22 when she summited Mount Everest in 2019. Hailing from a family of mountaineers, travel stories were the highlights of her family get-togethers. She did wonder even as a child the lack of any women in these stories. Originally from a remote village, Hatiya in Sankhuwasabha district, she remembers the trips to her village - it took a day long bus ride and a week of walking. These trips became the basis for her love for trekking and mountaineering.
Her father, a licensed mountaineer and mountain expedition guide helped her with her training. She initially climbed Lobuche (6119 meters) and Ramdung (5930 meters) peaks and trained in first aid. She then joined an expedition in 2019 led by her father.
“It wasn’t as romantic as it sounds,” says Nisha. It was crowded as it was peak season, and she remembers wishing her period was delayed with that heavy mountaineering suit and long hours of walking and climbing with no toilets around. It took two months to summit Everest. Upon her return, she found out that her uncle had passed away in a mountaineering accident. While her family was in mourning, the COVID lockdown was imposed in Nepal. It was a time for her to pause and reflect.
Currently an undergraduate student of Tourism at the Nepal College of Travel and Tourism Management (NCTTM), Kathmandu, Nisha wants to promote mountaineering in Nepal. She is planning to work with female mountaineers to find ways to reach more women.
