Chhanda Gayen

Chhanda Gayen (9 July 1979 – 20 May 2014) was an Indian climber, martial artist, explorer, and teacher of self-defense. She is best known for being the first, and fastest, Indian to climb two eight-thousanders, Mount Everest and Lhotse, in one go, which she did on 18 May 2013. She completed the traverse from the summit of Mount Everest to the summit of Lhotse in 22 hours.

She was awarded "Sera Avishkar" in Sera Bengali 2013 from ABP Ananda.

2014 avalanche


On 20 May 2014, she went missing along with two sherpas in an avalanche while descending from the summit of Kanchenjunga in Nepal. All three of them were later declared to have died in the avalanche.