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Years after head injury, Dubai banker summits Everest, raises UAE flag
Gupta suffered a serious head injury in 2020 that took nearly 18 months to heal, during which she reconnected with her childhood love for the mountains
- PUBLISHED: Fri 12 Jun 2026, 11:58 AM
Most people move to Dubai to build careers. Shradha Gupta did that too, rising to a senior leadership role in the financial sector after relocating to the UAE in 2017.
But beyond the boardroom, she was pursuing another ambition. On May 27, after years of training on UAE hiking trails and climbing some of the world's toughest peaks, Gupta reached the summit of Mount Everest and unfurled the UAE flag at the top of the world.
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The achievement marked the end of a journey that began after a life-changing accident during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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In 2020, Gupta suffered a serious head injury that took nearly 18 months to heal. During that period, she found herself reflecting on the things she had loved as a child but had gradually left behind as work and life became busier.
“As a child, I always loved going to the mountains. The accident was a reset. It made me think about the things that were important to me and the things I didn't want to miss out on anymore.”
After recovering, she began hiking in the UAE in 2022, starting with Wadi Shawka. Weekend hikes soon became a regular part of her routine as she explored mountain trails across the country.
She said the UAE played a major role in helping her prepare for bigger challenges.
“I discovered that I could hike in the UAE, and that's how it all started,” she said, adding that from there, the mountains kept getting bigger.
Her first major climb was Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, a dream she had carried since childhood. She joined a group expedition and successfully reached the summit.
In 2023, she travelled to Nepal for the Everest Base Camp trek. It was there, while standing at Kalapatthar and looking directly at Everest, that she made a decision.
“When I stood there looking at Everest, that's when I decided I would climb it,” she said, adding that goal was ambitious, but Gupta approached it one step at a time.
Over the next two years, she climbed increasingly difficult mountains around the world. She summitted Mount Elbrus in Russia, then Aconcagua in Argentina, before moving on to Manaslu in Nepal, her first mountain above 8,000 metres.
Each expedition taught her something different, whether it was dealing with snow and ice, adapting to extreme altitude or enduring long days on the mountain.
Back in Dubai, training became a part of everyday life. She spent hours hiking on UAE trails, exercising in gyms, swimming and climbing stair machines. She also trained on Ski Dubai's slopes while wearing mountaineering boots and gear.
“The UAE has actually been very good for training. You use whatever you can to prepare yourself,” she said.
According to Gupata, preparing for Everest also meant sacrifices. She trained for two to three hours almost every day while balancing a demanding full-time job. Early mornings and evenings were dedicated to fitness. Meals had to be planned carefully, and social activities often took a back seat.
“Your food, your training, your time, everything has to be planned,” she said.
The climb itself tested her physically and mentally. She moved between camps at high altitude, often spending hours each day climbing in harsh conditions for weeks. Her final summit push lasted more than 10 hours through the night.
Exhausted, cold and running on limited energy, she focused on a simple idea that helped her keep moving forward. “Forget about the summit. Forget about the next camp. Your only job is to take the next step,” she said.
“You take that next step, then another step, and another step. That's how you climb a mountain,” she said.
Along the way, she passed three bodies on Everest's slopes, a stark reminder of the mountain's dangers. “You realise you are trying to do something that is not meant to be done by the human body,” she said.
As dawn broke and the temperature slowly began to rise, the summit finally came into view. When she eventually reached the top, the feeling was not what many people might expect. “The first feeling was happiness. The second feeling was relief.”
Gupta spent about 30 minutes on the summit before beginning the equally important descent. She immediately contacted her parents, who had been anxiously following her progress throughout the expedition. “They were super happy. But they were also waiting for me to come back safely because on Everest, reaching the summit is only half the journey.”
Now back in India for recovery, Gupta said that her body is still adjusting after spending nearly six weeks on the mountain. While she has no climbing plans for the rest of this year, she is already thinking about future goals, including completing the remaining peaks in the Seven Summits challenge.
Looking back, she believes the biggest lesson from Everest applies far beyond mountaineering. “Many people delay their dreams because they think they are too busy, too old or too late,” she said.
“The gap between where you are and where you want to be is not filled by talent or some special power,” she said.
“It's filled by the next step. That step doesn't have to be perfect. It can be shaky and imperfect. But if you keep taking that next step, eventually you'll get where you want to be.”
SM Ayaz Zakir is a Senior Correspondent with a flair for extraordinary stories. His playground? Every corner of the UAE. He often ventures into remote corners of the country to capture compelling news and human interest stories.