India’s ‘Everest Twins’ have conquered it all – and they’re still only 30 years old

Sisters Tashi and Nungshi Malik are the first siblings to have climbed all the highest mountains on each continent and reach both the North and South Poles

Their feats are even more impressive in a country where little support or funding is available for those who wish to pursue a career in adventure sports

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Tashi and Nungshi Malik at their base in Dehradun, India's northern Uttarakhan state. Photo: Handout

Published: 3:00pm, 17 Oct 2021Updated: 1:24am, 2 May 2023

Indian mountaineers Tashi and Nungshi Malik are only 30 years old, yet they have already been on more adventures than most people will in their entire lives.

The “Everest Twins”, as they are known, were the first siblings and twins to climb the Seven Summits – the highest mountains on each continent – and were also the first to reach both the North and South Poles, making them the only Indians to have completed the prestigious “Explorers Grand Slam” so far.

It took them less than two years to achieve this feat, beginning with their ascent of Mount Everest in May 2013 alongside Samina Baig – the first Pakistani woman to climb the world’s highest peak – and ending with their April 2015 North Pole expedition in which they also became the first twins to complete the Three Poles Challenge, the third pole being Everest.

Tashi and Nungshi Malik on the summit of North America's highest mountain, Denali, in 2015. Photo: Handout

Though Tashi said being identical twins brought with it “huge synergy in mountaineering”, the sisters’ success in achieving their lofty goals came as much from determination and hard work in a country where little support or funding is available for those who wish to pursue a career in adventure sports.

“We both have always shared the same passion of climbing the mountains,” Tashi said. “Being twins it’s hard to see ourselves as totally separate from our ‘other half’ because we enjoy having a continual companion and mentor.”