Death zone to dream come true: Nisha, 16, conquers Everest
Bengaluru: While most teenagers spend their days preparing for board examinations, 16-year-old Nisha Sasikumar from Bengaluru was navigating the Khumbu Icefall and battling sub-zero temperatures on Mount Everest. On May 25, she became the youngest female to summit the world’s highest peak via the South Col route in Nepal. She was felicitated at the 15th Strategic Electronics Summit (SES) 2026 in Bengaluru on Friday.
Nisha’s 45-day expedition faced an early setback during the acclimatisation phase. Her father, who had accompanied her on the climb, developed Acute Mountain Sickness and was forced to descend. Left to decide whether to continue, Nisha chose to push ahead with only her Sherpa guides. “The hardest part wasn’t the mountain; it was climbing without my father,” she said. “There was a lot of mental pressure, but the reason I was climbing was bigger than the mountain itself.”
The summit push tested her limits further. Delayed by changing weather, she spent three nights above 8,000 metres in the ‘death zone’, where oxygen levels are critically low. On the route, she witnessed the harsh realities of high-altitude climbing — seeing the bodies of climbers who had perished and later learning that two people she met at Everest Base Camp had also died during the expedition.
There were moments she considered giving up. Food poisoning, relentless ascents, and overwhelming loneliness nearly ended her attempt. A brief message from a friend over the walkie-talkie — “Eat, drink, go to Camp 3 and rest” — gave her the motivation to continue.
Reaching the summit brought an emotional release. “I looked up, realised I had finally made it and tears just started rolling down my face,” she recalled. With unusually clear weather and very few climbers at the top that day, she spent nearly 20 minutes taking in the Himalayan panorama before beginning the equally demanding descent.
Nisha’s journey in mountaineering began at age 14 after she discovered the Seven Summits challenge online. Her first expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro ended without a summit due to a medical emergency and snowstorm, but the setback strengthened her resolve. She went on to summit Mount Elbrus, Carstensz Pyramid and Aconcagua before Everest.
Even as she takes on the world’s highest peaks, Nisha is balancing expeditions with her studies. She plans to complete the Seven Summits challenge. For her, Everest is not the final goal but another milestone in a much longer climb.
