Harish Chandra Singh Rawat

Harish Chandra Singh Rawat (3 July 1934 – 20 January 2008) was a mountaineer who climbed Mt. Everest in May 1965. He was one of the 9 summiters during the first successful Indian Everest Expedition, the expedition was led by Captain M S Kohli. On 24 May 1965 Vohra and Ang Kami Sherpa had reached the top of Mount Everest together. A few days later, on 29 May and 12 years to the day from the first ascent of Mount Everest, the fourth and last summit team with Major H. P. S. Ahluwalia, Phu Dorjee Sherpa, and Rawat reached the summit. This was the first time three climbers had stood on the summit together, Rawat was the 7th Indian man and 22nd man in world to climb Mount Everest.

Biography Rawat had graduated from Lucknow University in 1952 and joined central government service in the same year, in the Intelligence Bureau. He was posted as Deputy Central Intelligence Officer, Gorakhpur, in October 1963. Thereafter he shifted to Special Service Bureau (now Sashastra Seema Bal). He was Joint Assistant Director in SSB headquarters in 1965. In January 1970, he became the founder chief of the High Altitude Operations Training Centre, at Sandev, near Didihat. In October 1972, it was merged with SSB's Frontier Academy at Gwaldam as its Mountaineering Wing, and Rawat became that wing's first Senior Instructor.

Rawat died of lung cancer in New Delhi, aged 74. At that time (1965), he was and later worked for social welfare in Uttarakhand.

Honors and awards He was awarded Arjuna award and Padma Shri for his achievements.

He was vice president of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.