Kalpana Dash

Indian mountaineer and lawyer (1966–2019)

Kalpana Dash
କଳ୍ପନା ଦାଶ
Personal information
Main disciplineLawyer
Born7 July 1966
Dhenkanal, Odisha, India
Died23 May 2019 (aged 52)
Mount Everest
NationalityIndian
Career
Notable ascentsDenali,
Mount Kilimanjaro,
Mount Everest
Final ascentMount Everest

Kalpana Dash (Odia: କଳ୍ପନା ଦାଶ; 7 July 1966 – 23 May 2019) was an Indian lawyer and mountaineer. She was the first Odia mountaineer to scale Mount Everest. She scaled Mount Everest on 21 May 2008, along with a team of five members from the United States, Canada and Nepal.

She had attempted to climb Mount Everest twice before, once in 2004 and once in 2006, but failed due to bad weather and health conditions.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Death

On 23 May 2019, Dash again summited Everest with two others, but became ill on the descent and died just above the balcony of Mount Everest.[7][8]

The cause of her death was the unusual congestion near the summit of Mount Everest because of a narrow climbing window made narrower by severe weather conditions and the Nepal government issuing permits to several hundred climbers.[9][10] At least 11 climbers — many of them veteran mountain climbers like Dash — from Nepal, Europe, United States and India died during the 2019 climbing season in April and May 2019.[11][12] Donald Cash from Utah in the United States and Anjali Kulkarni from India were among those who died in the same week as Dash.[13]

Her body was recovered by Sherpas and brought to India.[14]

Expeditions

  • Mount Everest - Asia's highest peak - 8,848 m successfully summited on 21 May 2008
  • Denali - North America's highest peak - 6,190 m successfully summited on 15 June 2010
  • Mount Kosciuszko- Australia's highest peak - 5,895 m successfully summited on 19 April 2012
  • Kilimanjaro- Africa's highest peak - 5,895 m successfully summited on 9 October 2014
  • Aconcagua - South America's highest peak - 6,962 m successfully summited on 16 January 2015
  • Mount Elbrus - Europe's highest peak - 5,642 m successfully summited on 31 July 2015
  • Mount Vinson - Antarctica's highest peak 2,228 m successfully summited on 23 December 2015
  • Carstensz Pyramid - Oceania's highest peak 4,884 m successfully summited on 12 November 2016
  • Ojos del Salado - Chile's highest peak 6,893 m successfully summited on 22 December 2017
  • Damavand - Iran's highest peak 5,610 m successfully summited on 20 June 2018
  • Pico de Orizaba - Mexico's highest peak 5,636 m successfully summited on 10 October 2018

See also

References

  1. ^ "First Oriya woman on top of world - Kalpana from Dhenkanal third time lucky to reach Mount Everest". The Telegraph (Kolkata). 22 May 2008. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  2. ^ "The first Odia Girl Miss Kalpana Dash reached world's highest peak the Mount Everest on 21st. May-2008". Archived from the original on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  3. ^ "Everest 2008: More Aurn Trek climbers summits with 3 Sherpas". Everestnews.com. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  4. ^ "Kalpana Dash – the First Odia to Conquer Mt. Everest". Archived from the original on 22 December 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Everest climber Kalpana Das gets warm welcome in Orissa". Thaindian.com. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  6. ^ "Govt Apathy: Kalpana Dash resorts to Begging". 24 May 2012. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  7. ^ "Everest deaths: Odisha mountaineer Kalpana Das dies, traffic at summit sparks safety concerns". The Hindu. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  8. ^ "Odisha's first woman mountaineer Kalpana dies". New Indian Express. 24 May 2019. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  9. ^ O'Grady, Siobhan (25 May 2019). "Mount Everest has gotten so crowded that climbers are perishing in the traffic jams". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  10. ^ Smith, Saphora; McCausland, Phil (26 May 2019). "British man and three other climbers die on Everest amid concerns about crowding near the summit". NBC News. Archived from the original on 10 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  11. ^ Zraick, Karen; Taylor, Derrick Bryson (29 May 2019). "These Are the Victims of a Deadly Climbing Season on Mount Everest". New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  12. ^ Rawlinson, Kevin (23 May 2019). "Congestion on Everest leads to backlog of climbers in 'death zone'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  13. ^ Sharma, Bhadra; Ramzy, Austin (24 May 2019). "Three More Die on Mount Everest During Crowded Climbing Season". New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 April 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  14. ^ "Odisha Mountaineer Kalpana Dash Dies On Mt Everest". Odishabytes.com. 23 May 2019. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.