Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has flagged off 28 girl cadets of the National Cadet Corps on the All India Girls High Altitude Long Trek ‘Aparajita – Parang La 2026’, a challenging 250-kilometre expedition across one of the country’s most demanding alpine routes.
Led by three women officers from the three services, the expedition will traverse Parang La Pass at 5,578 metres, which connects Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh with the Changthang region of Ladakh. The 30-day trek will traverse remote high-altitude deserts, glaciers, snowfields and river valleys through a route that includes Kibber, Dumla, Thaltak, Bongrojen, Dak Karzong, Norbu Sumdo, Kiangdom and Korzok.
The expedition team has an average age of 19 years, with the youngest participant aged 16. Beyond the cadets and three women officers, the team includes medical staff, instructors and support personnel to manage the physiological and logistical demands of high-altitude trekking at elevations where oxygen availability drops significantly.
Rajnath termed the all-women expedition a testament to the courage and growing capabilities of India’s youth. He emphasised that such expeditions develop leadership qualities, mental resilience and self-confidence. The minister prioritised safety, environmental stewardship and positive interaction with local communities as core values for the team.
The Parang La route represents one of India’s most challenging alpine passages. The pass lies on the Spiti-Changthang corridor, an environmentally sensitive region of the trans-Himalaya characterised by high-altitude cold desert terrain. Expeditions across this route test both physical endurance and acclimatisation ability, with participants facing temperature swings, altitude-induced physiological stress, and the technical demands of glacier and snowfield traversal.
The NCC has progressively integrated women cadets into specialist training modules including mountaineering, adventure sports and expeditionary operations. Expeditions of this scale serve dual purposes: they build institutional capacity in women officer leadership while demonstrating operational readiness across all terrain types. The Aparajita initiative sits within broader defence sector efforts to expand women’s roles in combat-related and high-risk operational roles.
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