THE WOMAN WHO CLIMBED DARKNESS

Logo: Times SpecialsKullu: On the morning of May 19, as dawn lit up the Himalayas, Chhonzin Angmo stood on the summit of Mount Everest. There was no sweeping panorama for her. No view. No photograph. Just a blur of wind, cold, breathlessness — and tears. "I couldn't see anything," Angmo said. "But I could feel it. I was standing on the top of the world. That moment was unbelievable." In that moment, the 29-year-old from Himachal Pradesh, India, became the first visually impaired woman ever to summit Everest, and only the fifth person in history without sight to reach the peak. She had made it. Not despite her blindness — but through it.From the valley to the voidAngmo was born in Chango, a remote Himalayan village sitting almost 3,000 metres above sea level, on the edge of the Spiti valley. She had perfect vision as a child, playing in the apple orchards and walking to school like any other. But one day, at the age of eight, something changed. "It was during her school examinations," said her older brother, Gopal. "The teacher noticed her handwriting had started slanting on the page. She said she couldn't see."Within days, Angmo was blind. Her family travelled hundreds of kilometres to doctors in Rampur, then to Delhi, Chandigarh and Patiala — but the cause was never identified, and the treatments never worked. The young girl spent years at home in silence. But silence never suited her. "She had this fire," said Tashi Dolma, the village head of Chango and a former schoolmate. "She was never going to accept being left behind."Learning to move forwardAngmo was enrolled eventually in the Mahabodhi Residential School for the visually impaired in Leh, Ladakh — more than 1,000 km from home. There, she learned Braille. She graduated. Then she left the mountains for Delhi, where she studied at Miranda House, one of India's top colleges for women. There, the mountains called her back. And this time, she answered in a way no one expected.Angmo took up adventure sport. She paraglided in Bir-Billing. She bicycled from Manali to Khardung La. She swam, ran marathons, played judo, scaled the Siachen Glacier, and summited Kang Yatse II and Kanamo Peak. She worked her way up to 20,000-foot climbs — blind. "After I lost my eyesight, Everest became my obsession," she said. "People tried to scare me. They said I'd die. But every time they said it, I became more determined."The final ascentMount Everest is more than a climb. For Indian climbers, a guided expedition can cost upwards of ₹50 lakh. For a blind woman from a remote village, it's nearly impossible. Angmo knocked on many doors. Eventually, her employer —Union Bank of India — agreed to sponsor her expedition.She left Delhi on April 6. After flying to Lukla, she trekked to Everest Base Camp by April 18. For the next 26 days, she trained and acclimatised under the guidance of military veteran Romil Barthwal and two Sherpa guides, Dundu Sherpa and Gurung Maila.On May 15, the summit push began. Her biggest fear? Not altitude. Not fatigue. Crevasses. "I was terrified of the ladders. I couldn't walk across them, so I sat on them and crawled across on my hands," she said. Between Base Camp and Camp 4, she relied on trekking poles and the subtle shifts in body movements of climbers ahead to navigate. At times, she memorised terrain from a previous trek to Base Camp a year earlier. On May 18, she reached Camp 4. That night, at 7 pm, the team made their summit push.Top of the worldAbove 8,000 m lies the Death Zone, where oxygen is scarce and each step can take a minute. Angmo moved slowly, focusing on her breathing, her footing, her purpose. "At that altitude, every step hurts. I just kept repeating in my head: I'm not doing this just for me. I'm doing it for everyone who's ever been told they can't."By 8.30 am the next morning, she was there — at 8,849 m. The world's highest point. She couldn't see it. But she knew. "The wind was fierce. My Sherpas were telling me about the peaks below. I couldn't hold back my tears."Back to reality, eyes still shut—but wide openToday, Angmo lives alone in Delhi. She takes the metro to work, cooks her own meals, visits friends. But her story is far from over. "Everest isn't the end. It's the beginning," she said. "Next, I want to climb the Seven Summits." Her story adds a new chapter to global mountaineering history — and a proud page to India's.GraphicBlind Faith, High Point: Scaling the Invisiblebox1Chhonzin Angmo's Road to Summit>> April 6 | Departs Delhi>> April 10 | Begins Everest Base Camp trek from Lukla>> April 18 | Reaches base camp; starts 26-day acclimatisation>> May 15 | Reaches Camp 1>> May 16-18 | Climbs through Camps 2 to 4>> May 19, 8.30 am | Reaches the summit of Mount Everestbox 2The famous 5: Everest's Sightless Pioneers>> Erik Weihenmayer (US) | First blind person to summit Everest (2001); completed Seven Summits>> Andy Holzer (Austria) | Summited Everest in 2017 via Tibet>> Zhang Hong (China) | First blind Asian climber to summit (2021)>> Lonnie Bedwell (US) | Blind Navy veteran summited in 2023>> Chhonzin Angmo (India) | First blind woman to summit Everest (2025)box3No Legs, But What A Feat!Other Indian physically challenged mountaineers:->> Arunima Sinha | Second amputee in the world to summit Everest (2013)>> Chitrasen Sahu | Double amputee (called Half Human Robo); climbed Mt Elbrus and Kilimanjaro>> Uday Kumar | Amputee climber; scaled Kilimanjaro and Mt Rhenock>> Tinkesh Kaushik | First triple amputee to reach Everest base campbox 4 "To climb Everest, you don't just need strength. You need a reason," Angmo said.She found hers in the dark. And she carried it all the way to the top of the world. MSID:: 121547482 413 |