Mumbai Dancer Saanika Shah Summits Mount Everest and Performs Bharatanatyam

Saanika Shah, a 22-year-old mountaineer, endurance athlete, and dancer from Mumbai, successfully summited Mount Everest on May 20th. During her expedition to the world's highest peak, Shah also performed a traditional Bharatanatyam dance at the Everest Base Camp, highlighting the physical challenges of high-altitude mountaineering.

Shah, who has trained in Bharatanatyam since she was four years old, performed the classical Indian dance at the base camp, which sits at an altitude of 17,500 feet. The performance was her mother's idea, and Shah decided to execute a full three-minute dance rather than just posing for photographs.

The dance took place on the day of the puja ceremony, an auspicious ritual conducted at base camp to ask the mountain for safe passage and to bless the climbers' equipment. To perform, Shah had to remove her protective jackets and thermals to wear a traditional sari, jewelry, and makeup in minus 5 degrees Celsius weather, despite her hands becoming numb from the cold and wind. Shah noted that even walking to the dining area causes breathlessness at that altitude, and she had to rest for five to six minutes to catch her breath after completing the dance.

Shah first decided to climb Mount Everest in 2021, when she was 17 years old, after watching a movie about the 1996 Everest disaster. Over the next five years, she trained relentlessly with Everest as her end goal. To keep herself motivated, she ordered pictures of Everest, framed them, and hung them in her room so she would see the mountain every morning.

Shah completed the summit with the Elite Expedition group, which is run by Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal Purja. She credited her guide, Lakpa Tenjen Sherpa, for helping her return home safely. During the summit night, Shah faced life-threatening fear, particularly at the Hillary Step, where she had to navigate a 2,000-meter drop while exhausted.