Before the mountains, there was volleyball. Arunima Sinha played the sport at the national level seven times, building the physical foundation that would later carry her up some of the world’s highest peaks. In 2011, her life changed when she was thrown from a moving train near Lucknow/Delhi during a robbery attempt, an incident that resulted in the loss of one of her legs.
Rather than stepping away from competitive physicality, Sinha redirected it. In 2013, she became the world’s first female amputee to climb Mount Everest, a feat that drew national attention to her recovery and training. She went on to summit other continental peaks, including Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Kosciuszko and Aconcagua, expanding her record across multiple continents.
Her achievements were formally recognized by the Indian government, which awarded her the Padma Shri in 2015, alongside the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award for her mountaineering accomplishments. Reports of her climbs and recovery have been documented in features such as The Quint’s profile on her journey as the first woman amputee to scale Everest.
Sinha continues to be referenced in Indian media and sporting circles as a benchmark for what has been achieved in adaptive mountaineering, with her Everest summit and subsequent continental climbs forming the core of her reported athletic record.
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