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Just 44 km away from Delhi, there is a small town called Sonepat in Haryana, which overnight became the epicentre of celebrations when the locals heard that two sisters – Nungashi and Tashi Malik from their town, became the only Indians, in fact only South Asians to complete the Explorer Grand Slam. Grand Slam is an adventurer’s challenge to reach the North and South Pole and climb the 7 summits in seven continents. And the summits include climbing and trekking to the tallest mountains in each continent.

Besides achieving the title, Nungashi and Tashi also became the youngest climbers to complete the impressive feat, doing it at just 23. What started as a casual vacation course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi in 2009 soon turned into an obsession, according to the Times of India.

The sisters had to fight all the odds, including having no sponsors for their climbing obsession, forcing their mother to take a loan and their father to put all his savings into their dream. And what a dream it was: Only 44 people had completed the Explorer Grand Slam before them, but now there are two more on the list, with the Malik sisters being not just the first siblings to manage the challenge but also the youngest ever.