Ms. Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu was born into a Hindu family from Punjab and grew up in Darjeeling, where she attended mountaineering courses at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. She has taken part in and led several expeditions in the Himalayas. On December 29, 2009, Reena made the historic ski-run as part of an eight-woman Commonwealth team (Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition) which crossed a 900‌km Antarctic ice trek to reach the South Pole.