In a first, women patrol Nanda Devi forests at 14,500 feet

At 14,500 feet, one can leave nothing to chance. So, for months, Durga Sati, 32, Roshni Negi, 25, and Mamta Kanwasi, 33, had been preparing for the taxing trek. Last week, they became the first women guards to be deployed in the treacherous forests of the country’s second highest mountain, Nanda Devi, over 25,000 feet high.