WOW STORY OF THE DAY: She Set Her Sights on Everest at 17, Summited at 22, and Performed Bharatanatyam at Base Camp.

Lockdown, a Movie, and a Decision That Defined the Next Five Years

- Saanika Shah is a 22-year-old endurance athlete, mountaineer, and Bharatanatyam dancer from Mumbai. Her mother enrolled her in Bharatanatyam classes at just four years old, and that early grounding in classical Indian dance would later become the most extraordinary expression of her Everest journey.

- Her path to the summit of Mount Everest began not on a mountain but in a room during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2021, when she watched the film Everest about the 1996 disaster on the mountain.

- "I was 17 back then, and for me, I had already been stuck in a kind of dreamland or a fantasy land where I had made Everest my everything," she says.

- That decision was total and immediate. She began ordering pictures of Everest from Amazon, framing them, and hanging them in her room. She would wake up every morning looking at the mountain she intended to climb.

- "In 2021 I decided that 2026 will be the year that I make Everest happen. I was obsessed," she says.

- What followed was five years of relentless preparation. Every peak she climbed, every training session she completed, every endurance challenge she took on had Everest as its singular end goal.

- “If it was not for Everest, maybe mountaineering would have never entered my life," she says.

She built herself, systematically and deliberately, into someone who could stand on top of the world.

A Sari at Minus 5 Degrees, Bharatanatyam at Base Camp, and a Performance That Went Viral

- Saanika Shah is not just a mountaineer. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, rooted in the classical form since her mother first placed her in classes at age four. And when she arrived at Everest Base Camp before her summit attempt, she made a decision that no mountaineer had made before her.

- She packed her costume, her jewellery, and her makeup. She carried them up to Base Camp because she intended to perform a classical Indian dance at the foot of the world's highest peak.

- “I took my costume, I took my jewellery and makeup. I wanted to get fully ready, how I would back in the city," she says.

- The puja ceremony at Base Camp is a sacred ritual performed before the climb, asking the mountain for permission and safe passage. It is conducted to honour the mountain and bless the climbers' equipment. Saanika chose this most auspicious moment of the expedition to perform her Bharatanatyam.

- In her tent before the ceremony, her hands went numb and she was shivering. She removed her jackets and thermals, wore a sari at minus 5 degrees, and emerged from the tent fully dressed, fully adorned, and completely herself.

- “I felt so gorgeous on the mountain, with the look and with the sunlight," she says.

- The video of the performance went viral globally, described as a prayer to Sagarmatha, the Nepali name for Everest. The sight of a classical Indian dance form unfolding against the backdrop of the world's highest peak, performed by a young woman who had trained for five years for this moment, earned praise from millions of people across the world. "I'm beyond grateful to everyone in my life that supported me," she says.

Scale and Real-World Impact

- Saanika Shah is 22 years old and based in Mumbai, India. She is an endurance athlete, mountaineer, and Bharatanatyam dancer trained since age four. She first decided to climb Everest at age 17 in 2021. She successfully summited Mount Everest on May 20 2026. She performed Bharatanatyam at Everest Base Camp during the puja ceremony dressed in a sari at minus 5 degrees. The video went viral globally and was covered by Free Press Journal, Glamour Nepal, and The Reel Stars among many others. 

The Most Extraordinary Achievements Are the Ones That Refuse to Separate the Person From the Dream

- The sharpest lesson from Saanika Shah's journey is this: the most powerful and memorable achievements are the ones where the person brings their whole self to the summit, not just the version of themselves that the occasion demands.

- Every mountaineer who reaches Everest has shown extraordinary courage and discipline. Saanika Shah showed all of that and then she put on a sari at minus 5 degrees and performed a classical Indian dance as a prayer to the mountain.

- That choice, to be both mountaineer and dancer at the highest point on earth, is what turned a personal achievement into a global moment.

- "Everest was always the goal. Because of Everest I started my journey into mountaineering," she says. "I felt that Everest would open doors for me.”

- She decided at 17. She trained for five years. She summited at 22. She danced in a sari at the top of the world. And millions of people across the planet were moved by the sight of a young woman from Mumbai who refused to leave any part of herself behind on the way up.

Sources: Free Press Journal, Glamour Nepal, The Reel Stars, Instagram @saanikashah__