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local village school. At the age of sixteen years, her parents wanted
to marry her. She threatened her parents that she would never
many if she did not get a proper education. She left home and got
herself enrolled in a school in Delhi. When her parents refused to
pay for her education, she politely informed them of her plans to
earn money by working part-time to pay her school fees. Her
Parents then agreed to pay for her education.

Santosh passed the high school examinations and went to Jaipur.
She joined Maharani College widget a room in Kasturba Hostel. She
developed a love for mountaineering while watching the Aravalli
Hills’.

She saved money and enrolled in a course at Uttarkashi’s Nehru
Institute of Mountaineering; developed a remarkable resistance to
cold and the altitude. Equipped with an iron will, Physical
endurance and an amazing mental toughness, she proved herself
repeatedly.

The culmination of her hard work and sincerity came in 1992, just
four years after she had shyly asked the Aravalli mountaineers if
she could join them. At barely twenty years of age, Santosh Yadav
conquered Mt. Everest, becoming the youngest woman in the world
to achieve the feat.

If her climbing skills, physical fitness, and mental strength
impressed her seniors, her concern for others and desire to work
together with them found her a special place in the hearts of fellow
climbers. During the 1992 Everest mission, Santosh Yadav
provided special care to a climber who ‘lay dying at the South Col.
She was unfortunately unsuccessful in saving him. However, she
managed to save another climber, Mohan Singh, who would have
met with the same fate had she not shared her oxygen with him.

Within twelve months, Santosh found herself a member of an Indo-
Nepalese Women’s Expedition that invited her to join them. She
then conquered the Everest a second time.

She was given a Padmashri Award. She is also a fervent
environmentalist; Santosh collected and brought down 500
kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.