Bachendri Pal, (born May 24, 1954, Nakuri, India), Indian mountaineer who in 1984 became the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. 

Pal was born into a rural working-class family in what is currently Uttarakhand and was one of seven kids. A gifted student, she encountered stiff resistance from her loved ones members and relatives when she chose to opt for a career as a professional mountaineer rather than as a schoolteacher. She soon found success in her chosen field, however. After summitting lots of smaller peaks, then she was selected to combine India's first mixed-gender group to try a trip to Mount Everest. Starting its ascent in early May 1984, her team almost met tragedy when an avalanche buried its camp, and over half of the group has been made to abandon the ascent because of injury or fatigue. Pal and the rest of the team pressed on, and she reached the summit on May 23, 1984. Roku error code 001

Pal achieved instant fame, and in 1985 she returned to Mount Everest to successfully lead an all-woman staff into the summit. She headed an all-woman rafting expedition down the Ganges River in 1994, covering over 1,500 miles (2,500 km). In 1997 she headed an all-woman team on a prosperous 2,500-mile (4,000-km) transit of the Himalayas, beginning in Arunachal Pradesh and finishing at the Siachen Glacier. She had been awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 1984.

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