Geeta Samota: The First Female CISF Officer To Climb The Mount Everest
Making history, Lady Sub-Inspector Geeta Samota of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has become the first woman officer from the force to scale Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at 8,849 metres. The milestone, achieved on Monday and confirmed by the CISF on Tuesday, marks a personal victory for Samota as well as a landmark moment for women in India’s uniformed services.
Geeta’s successful ascent began in the modest surroundings of Chak village in Rajasthan’s Sikar district. A former hockey player from a family of four sisters, whose sports career was cut short by injury, Geeta pivoted to mountaineering after joining the CISF in 2011.
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“Mountains are great levellers. They don’t care about your gender. Only those with that X-factor can conquer those heights,” said Geeta.
She became the only woman doing a basic mountaineering course at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) training institute in Auli in 2015. Geeta became the first CISF personnel to complete an advanced mountaineering course in 2017.
In 2019, she became the first woman from any Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) to climb Mount Satopanth (7,075 metres) in Uttarakhand and Mount Lobuche (6,119 metres) in Nepal.
“CISF की नारी शक्ति की ऐसी मिसाल, जिसने छू लिया आसमान और बना दी नई पहचान।”
DG #CISF and all ranks congratulate L/SI Geeta Samota of CISF Unit, Udaipur Airport, on successfully scaling Mount Everest (8,848 m), the highest peak in the world.
She has not only brought immense pride… pic.twitter.com/tL1I32uazs— CISF (@CISFHQrs) May 20, 2025
Though she planned to climb Everest in 2021, the plan was cancelled due to technical reasons. As persistent as she is, Geeta set her eyes on the “Seven Summits”.
Between 2021 and 2022, she scaled four of the world’s Seven Summits: Mount Kosciuszko (Australia), Mount Elbrus (Russia), Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), and Mount Aconcagua (Argentina), completing the feat in just six months and 27 days — the fastest by any Indian woman.
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Back home, she set another record in Ladakh’s Rupshu region, scaling five peaks—three over 6,000 metres and two over 5,000 metres—within just three days.
Geeta has been honored with several awards, including the International Women’s Day Award 2023 by the Delhi Commission for Women and the “Giving Wings to Dreams Award 2023” by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Her relentless pursuit of excellence has reportedly inspired the CISF to consider fielding a full mountaineering team to scale Everest in 2026.
