Most athletes pick one world and live in it. I live in two. One week I might be on a frozen river or climbing toward 20,000 feet; the next, I am under a loaded barbell in a gym in Ahmedabad. People often ask: how do mountaineering and powerlifting even go together? Aren't they opposites? The truth is, they make each other stronger — and they have made me stronger than either could alone.
They look like opposites
On the surface, the two sports could not be more different. Mountaineering is endurance, altitude, cold, and patience over many days. Powerlifting is raw force in a few explosive seconds in a warm gym. One is about going far; the other about going heavy.
But underneath, they share the same engine — and training one feeds the other in ways most people never see.
How the barbell helps the mountains
The strength I build with squats and deadlifts is not just for the platform. It goes up the mountain with me. A strong back carries a heavy pack without breaking down. Strong legs push up endless slopes at altitude. A body trained to handle load recovers faster and gets injured less. When I climbed Kang Yatse at thirteen, the powerlifting base under my legs was a quiet advantage the whole way up.
- Carrying capacity. Mountain days mean heavy packs over long hours. Gym strength makes that load feel lighter.
- Injury resistance. Strong muscles and joints take the pounding of descents far better.
- Power on steep ground. Big climbs need strong legs. The barbell builds exactly those.
How the mountains help the barbell
It works the other way too. The mountains gave me something no gym ever could: a mind that does not panic. When you have walked across a frozen river at minus 35, a heavy lift does not scare you the same way. You have already learned the most important athletic skill there is — staying calm when your body is screaming and the situation is hard.
That calm is everything under a max-effort barbell. The mountains taught me patience, breath control, and how to take one honest step at a time. I bring all of that to the platform.
The same lesson, in two places
In the end, both sports teach the same thing in different languages: show up, do the hard rep, do not quit early, and respect the work. A mountain and a barbell are both honest — they give you back exactly what you put in, no shortcuts, no excuses.
That is why I do not see them as two separate things. I see them as one athlete's answer to the same question: how strong can you become, in body and in mind? Being a mountaineer makes me a better lifter. Being a powerlifter makes me a better climber. And being both is what makes me “Gujarat's Strongest Girl” — not just on the platform, but on the mountain too.
Two worlds. One athlete. Still climbing, still lifting.