Sub-Inspector Geeta Samota has become the first Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel to conquer the world’s tallest peak, Mount Everest, in the 56-year-long history of the force. She summited the 8,849 m tall mountain on Monday.
“Geeta stood on the ‘roof of the world’, a triumphant moment symbolising not just a personal victory, but the incredible resilience and strength fostered within the CISF and the Indian nation,” said a CISF spokesperson said in a statement.
The 35-year-old subordinate officer joined the paramilitary force in 2011 and is currently posted at the Udaipur airport unit of the CISF.
The mountaineer hails from Chak village in Rajasthan’s Sikar district and had initially started as a hockey player in a local college. Her upbringing was traditional in a house that had five daughters, including her.
An injury led her to move away from hockey and upon joining the force she found CISF did not have a mountaineering team then. She saw an opportunity here.
Samota went on to undertake specialised training in mountaineering and in 2019 she became the first woman from any Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) to scale Mount Satopanth (7,075m) in Uttarakhand and Mount Lobuche (6,119m) in Nepal.
In early 2021, the CAPF contingent for a Mount Everest expedition, of which Geeta was a part, was unfortunately called off due to technical reasons. She then set an ambitious goal-- the “Seven Summits” challenge, which involves climbing the highest peak on each of the seven continents. Between 2021-2022, she summited four of these formidable peaks: Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m) in Australia, Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) in Russia, Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) in Tanzania and Mount Aconcagua (6,961 m) in Argentina.
The CISF official achieved this feat in a span of just six months and 27 days, making her the fastest Indian woman to do so. Samota also became the first and fastest woman to climb five peaks in Ladakh's Rupshu region in just three days, including three peaks over 6,000m and two over 5,000m.
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