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Santosh went on an expedition every year and improved her skills
gradually. She developed immunity to cold weather and heights.
Santosh had the qualities of physical strength, mental strength and
strong will power. In 1992, four years after her first casual climb on the
Aravalli hills, she climbed Mount Everest. She was twenty years of age.
Santosh became the youngest woman in the world to climb the peak.
Her seniors were impressed by her qualities of physical strength, mental
strength and strong will power. Her companions on expeditions found
her to be concerned for others and willing to work as a team. During the
1992 expedition to Everest, she tried to save a fellow climber but was
unsuccessful. She was successful in saving another fellow climber -
Mohan Singh who fell short of oxygen by sharing 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 scaled the Everest a

second time, thus setting a record as the only woman
to have scaled the Everest twice, and securing for
herself and India a unique place in the annals of
mountaineering. In recognition of her achievements,
the Indian government bestowed upon her one of the
nation‟s top honours, the Padmashri.

Annals: historic records
Bestowed upon her: honoured her with
Top honours: highest award

Within the next year, she had joined a group of Indo - Nepalese
mountaineer women. Then she climbed the peak the second time,
becoming the only woman to have climbed the Everest twice. Santosh
made India proud by getting her name recording in the Historic records
of mountaineering. The Indian government honoured her achievement
by giving her the Padmashri award.

Describing her feelings when she was literally „on top of the world‟,
Santosh has said, “It took some time for the enormity of the moment to
sink in... Then I unfurled the Indian tricolour and held it aloft on the roof
of the world. The feeling is indescribable. The Indian flag was flying on
top of the world. It was truly a spiritual moment. I felt proud as an
Indian.” Also a fervent environmentalist, Santosh collected and brought
down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas.