Imagine reaching a mountain camp 16,000 feet above sea level, only to realise that your period has started and you have no sanitary pads. There is no nearby shop, no easy way to restock supplies and no one around to ask for help.
With another four to five days left at the location, what do you do?
For mountaineer Yogeshwari Bohare, the answer was to work with what she had. Bohare’s makeshift pad, made with tissue paper and medical tape which is now going viral, has brought attention to a practical question: are menstrual hygiene needs adequately covered in expedition safety plans?
In a video shared on Instagram, Bohare explained that her period had started the previous night. With sanitary pads unavailable and no other women around, she decided to improvise using tissue paper and medical tape. She layered the tissue to make it thicker, folded it and used the tape to secure the edges.
Once she had assembled the makeshift pad, she held it up to the camera and said, “Let’s see if this works or not.”
Climbers prepare for changing weather, difficult terrain, injuries and altitude-related illness. But menstruation does not follow an expedition schedule, and access to essential menstrual products can become difficult when a team is far from the nearest settlement.
Bohare summed up what the mountains had taught her in her Instagram caption: “Mountains teach you more than climbing; they teach you how to adapt, survive, and find solutions when things get tough.”
She also pointed out that periods do not pause for expeditions, even though the challenges women face in the mountains are rarely discussed.
But what does India’s mountaineering safety framework say about women’s menstrual health?
What happens when periods meet the mountains?
For women on multi-day expeditions, menstrual hygiene involves more than packing enough sanitary pads. Climbers may also need access to clean water, privacy to change, appropriate waste-disposal arrangements and a way to carry used products back from environmentally sensitive mountain areas.
At high altitudes, these practical requirements must be considered alongside the usual demands of an expedition.
A climber cannot necessarily leave the group to find a shop or wait until the next day to obtain supplies.
She also pointed out that periods do not pause for expeditions, even though the challenges women face in the mountains are rarely discussed. Photograph: (Mountaineer Yogeshwari)
Bohare’s video does not establish whether her expedition organisers had a menstrual hygiene plan or whether other arrangements were available.
But it highlights why these needs deserve a place in expedition preparation, rather than being left entirely to individual climbers to manage when a period arrives unexpectedly.
What do the IMF’s safety guidelines say?
The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF), the national body responsible for mountaineering activities, has published safety guidelines for expedition operators. Its rules recognise that an expedition requires planning beyond the act of climbing itself.
The IMF’s published advisory does not explicitly list sanitary pads or other menstrual products as mandatory expedition supplies. Nor do they spell out specific requirements for menstrual hygiene facilities or the disposal of used products.
A small addition to a big expedition
Bohare’s experience is a reminder that mountaineering preparation must also account for the people undertaking the climb, not just the terrain they will encounter.
The IMF could clarify whether menstrual hygiene is covered in its existing operational guidance and consider adding explicit recommendations for expedition organisers. Operators, too, can make menstrual products part of routine supply planning, alongside first-aid equipment and other essentials.
At 16,000 feet, Bohare found a temporary solution with the materials available to her. Her video has made a rarely discussed challenge visible.
But menstruation is not an unusual event that should catch women out of place in the outdoors. It is a normal bodily process, and preparing for it should be as ordinary as checking the weather before a climb.
