Women on the Move: No Mountain Too high

Tashi & Nungshi Malik,32

Mountaineers

Widely known as the ‘Everest Twins’, 32-year-old Tashi and Nungshi Malik have an impressive climbing record having summited all seven of the world’s major mountain peaks and reached both the North and South Poles. The feats make the sisters the first Indians to have completed the coveted ‘Explorers Grand Slam’.

The Malik sisters’ climbing journey began in 2009 when their father enrolled them in a mountaineering course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarakhand. “At 19, our first expedition was to climb Mount Rudugaira at 19,000 ft. It took incredibly hard work and hours to make it to the top. But for the first time we realized what we were capable of achieving. Holding the tricolour in one hand, an ice-axe in the other, looking at the vast expanse around us—at that moment, we felt we could climb any mountain anywhere,” Nungshi recalls.

Born to a Jat father and Gorkha mother, the Malik twins were aware of the societal challenges girls have to face but luckily, they had the unwavering support of their parents. What proved to be far tougher was getting funding for their expeditions. Adventure activities are hardly a spectator sport and so they garner few eyeballs and fewer sponsors. To bankroll expeditions, their parents put in all their savings, including taking a loan against their mother’s gold jewellery.

While Mt Everest was one of the toughest of all their ventures, their biggest feat till date is successfully climbing Mt McKinley through extreme weather conditions: a long and severe snowstorm that saw other climbers turn back. “That one week was hell and our biggest worry was that we would have to abort our attempt. That would have had a huge impact on our future funding options and credibility,” says Nungshi. The twins waited it out and took a gamble to push ahead despite the weather, which eventually cleared. “If Everest had put us in the list of good climbers, successfully summiting McKinley established us as tough, professional climbers,” adds Tashi.

For the twins, sharing the same passion for climbing and having each other for support is a massive advantage in their climbing journey. “On a mountain it’s very important to have someone you can count on. At times when I feel like giving up, Tashi helps me move on,” says Nungshi.

Having achieved so much at such a young age, they set up the Nungshi Tashi Foundation in 2015 to give back to society: to develop mountaineering as a sport and empower women and girls to pursue a life of adventure.Climbing mountains and overcoming several physical and mental challenges along the way have offered big lessons. “We have always viewed our relationship with the mountains with a deep sense of humility, and for us, making our way up to the  summit is synonymous with setting out on an inner journey. It has helped us see the bigger picture and a sense of how fragile and precious life can be,” says Nungshi.