With eyes brimming with tears and a heart swelling with pride, 20-year-old Rifiness Warjri returned home to a hero’s welcome—having etched her name in history as the youngest from Meghalaya to conquer Mount Everest.
As the Umroi Airport gates opened, the 61 Meghalaya Girls Battalion NCC burst into applause, their cheers mingling with the quiet dignity of a girl who had stared down the death-defying altitudes of the world’s highest peak and emerged victorious. Rifiness summited Everest on May 18, 2025, at an awe-inspiring 8,848 meters, becoming not just a state icon, but the sole representative from the entire Northeast in the prestigious NCC Mount Everest Expedition 2025.
A cadet of unshakable resolve from the 61 Meghalaya Girls Battalion and a student of St. Anthony’s College, Rifiness has become the fourth mountaineer from Meghalaya to stand atop Everest—following legends Gary Jarman Lamare (2012), Wansuk Myrthong (2013), and Dolyne Kharbhih (2016). But her youth, her courage, and her quiet strength have made her journey uniquely inspirational.
Led by Major A.G. Warjri, her fellow NCC cadets, proud family members, and well-wishers gathered at the airport with garlands, embraces, and emotional words, as the young climber returned—not just as an Everester, but as a symbol of dreams that dare to rise above the clouds.
