Sultan Bathery: "I was not ready to die." As she scaled the treacherous slopes of the Himalayas, Sreesha Ravindran was haunted by the sight of frozen bodies lying still along the path. Each step was a silent defiance against death, a personal vow not to become one of them. "No mountain is greater than life itself," she says with quiet conviction.

Sreesha, only the second Malayali woman to summit Mount Everest, recently shared her incredible journey at a gathering organised by Globetrekkers, recalling moments that blurred the line between life and death.

During her climb, she battled through icy winds gusting at 75–80 km/h, often trekking for hours at a time. On Everest’s peak, as she attempted to change gloves, the brutal Himalayan wind lashed at her hands, causing frostbite on her right wrist. Ice crystals clouded her vision, and there were moments she wasn’t sure she would make it back.

Despite the danger, she spent five minutes at the summit — just long enough to take photographs that would bear witness to her achievement. "Climbing down with a rope, relying on just one clip, was one of the most gruelling parts of the entire expedition," she said.
 

Her love for the mountains began at age 15, hand-in-hand with her father Ravindran, as they hiked the hills together. What started as trekking slowly transformed into a passion for mountaineering. Since then, she has climbed over 15 peaks across India and Nepal, including several in the Himalayan range.

Sreesha, a native of Shoranur in Palakkad, undertook two years of intense training from 2022 to prepare for Everest. She set aside four hours each day for physical conditioning. Her Everest journey began in April this year, first reaching the base camp at 5,300 metres. On April 25, she conquered Lobuche East (6,900 metres) as her preparatory climb. Finally, on May 20 at 10.30 am, she stood atop the world, on the summit of Mount Everest.

Sreesha notes that mountaineering requires not only courage, but strong institutional support also, something she feels is lacking in Kerala. "Even our neighbouring state Tamil Nadu provides far more encouragement to mountaineers. After I returned, there wasn’t a single word of appreciation from the government or any official. But I’m not disheartened. The recognition from people matters more," she says with grace.

Climbing mountains, she adds, is one of the most adventurous and demanding sports, yet it is rarely given the respect or attention it deserves. The cost of an Everest expedition can range from ₹25 lakh to ₹1 crore. Despite reaching out to ministers and over 150 companies for sponsorship via email, Sreesha received no support.

A chartered accountant based in Bengaluru, Sreesha is also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, currently pursuing her postgraduate degree in the classical art. Her husband Jayaram, a software engineer, and their 11-year-old son Niranjan have been her biggest pillars of support throughout her journeys.

“Each mountain I climb makes me stronger, and every hardship I face teaches me resilience,” Sreesha says. Her voice is calm, but her story speaks volumes — of willpower, dreams and the quiet strength of a woman who dared to reach the top of the world, not to conquer it, but to return home alive.