A roped line of climbers working up a steep snow slope at first light, a horizon of peaks falling away below them.
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From Kodagu to the World

A journey across borders, disciplines, and starting lines.

Scroll through the years that shaped the journey

  1. Bhavani Thekkada and her family standing together outside a shopfront in Kodagu.

    1995 · Kodagu, Karnataka

    Born in Kodagu

    Born on 14 May 1995 in Peroor, near Napoklu, in the coffee-growing hills of Kodagu. She grew up surrounded by coffee estates, monsoon rains and mountains, but never snow. The nearest snow was thousands of kilometres away.

  2. Bhavani Thekkada in NCC uniform shaking hands with an Air Force officer in a directorate office, an events board on the wall behind them.

    2013

    Joined the NCC

    She moved to Mangaluru to study for her bachelor’s degree at St. Agnes College. During college she volunteered to join the National Cadet Corps, a youth organisation that introduced her to discipline, adventure and opportunities far beyond the classroom.

  3. Four climbers on a snow summit holding the Indian tricolour and an NCC flag open between them, a ridge line and cloud below.

    2014 · Manali and Uttarakhand

    The mountains came first

    Inspired by Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, she had always dreamed of seeing the Himalayas. Through the NCC she got her first opportunity to travel to Manali for a mountaineering camp. She completed her Basic Mountaineering Course at ABVIMAS and later undertook her first expedition, to Mount Rudugaira at 5,819 m in Uttarakhand.

  4. NCC air wing cadets standing at attention in ranks on a parade square, palms and trees behind them.

    2015 · India

    Beyond the classroom

    She represented the Karnataka and Goa Directorate at the All India NCC Air Wing Camp. The camp introduced her to aviation, including her first experience of flying an aircraft, while strengthening her discipline, confidence and love for adventure.

  5. Massed marching contingents and a military band on the Republic Day parade route in New Delhi.

    2016 · New Delhi

    Republic Day Parade, Delhi

    She represented the Karnataka and Goa Directorate at the Republic Day Parade in Delhi. That year she also completed her Advanced Mountaineering Course, taking another step deeper into the mountains.

  6. Bhavani Thekkada in a red down jacket and crampons standing on a glacier below a steep face of snow and rock.

    2017 · Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling

    Mountaineer to instructor

    She completed her Method of Instruction at HMI, Darjeeling, qualifying as a mountaineering instructor. She then spent two years as a guest instructor at HMI, teaching on the same grounds where she had trained just a few years earlier.

  7. A full squad of skiers gathered with their skis upright among snow-covered pines.

    2018 · Pahalgam and Russia

    Discovering alpine skiing

    She decided to try skiing and completed her Basic and Intermediate Alpine Skiing courses at JIM&WS, Pahalgam. Later that year she climbed Mount Elbrus in Russia, the highest peak in Europe. Watching Marit Bjørgen at the Winter Olympics also planted her first idea of cross-country skiing.

  8. A skier in a pink jacket at the top of a groomed piste above a wide snowfield, a chairlift running down the slope beside her.

    2019 · Gulmarg and New Zealand

    Taking skiing abroad

    She completed her Advanced Alpine Skiing course at IISM, Gulmarg, before travelling to New Zealand and earning her international Alpine Ski Instructor certification. Skiing was becoming more than a profession. It was becoming her path.

  9. Bhavani Thekkada low in a tuck on skis, carrying speed across an open slope against a clear sky.

    2020 · Kashmir

    Finding cross-country skiing

    While working as an Alpine Ski Instructor at JIM&WS in Kashmir, she got her first opportunity to try cross-country skiing. She took it up competitively, making her National and Khelo India debut and winning two bronze medals.

  10. Bhavani Thekkada on the top step of the podium at the second Khelo India National Winter Games presentation ceremony, the silver and bronze medallists either side of her.

    2021

    Her first national gold

    Still working as an Alpine Ski Instructor, she returned to Khelo India and won her first national gold medal in cross-country skiing. It was the moment she began to see a future in the sport.

  11. Six skiing medals hanging side by side on printed lanyards reading National Cross Country Skiing.

    2022 · Norway

    FIS international debut

    She left her job and committed herself to skiing full-time. She travelled to Norway for training and began racing internationally in FIS competitions, marking the start of her journey on the European circuit.

  12. Bhavani Thekkada in the blue India race suit on the stadium loop in front of a full grandstand, advertising boards and national flags along the barrier behind her.

    2023 · Planica, Slovenia

    Her first World Championship

    She qualified for and competed at her first World Championships in Planica, Slovenia, stepping onto the world’s biggest stage for the first time.

  13. Bhavani Thekkada standing with her skis and several medals around her neck in front of a Khelo India Winter Games backdrop.

    2024

    A breakthrough year

    She won a hat-trick of gold medals at the Khelo India Winter Games. It was a breakthrough season and the beginning of a new chapter with support from the Reliance Foundation.

  14. Bhavani Thekkada on skis with three other racers at the foot of the piste, snow-covered slopes and a chairlift behind them.

    2025

    Breaking new ground

    She represented India at the Asian Winter Games, carried the Indian flag, competed at her second World Championships and made her FIS Cross-Country Ski World Cup debut, becoming the first Indian cross-country skier to race on the World Cup circuit.

  15. Bhavani Thekkada holding the Indian flag open in front of the Snow Farm and Merino Muster banners, her skis beside her.
    Photo: Framepower NZ

    2026 · New Zealand

    A new distance

    She continued competing nationally and internationally before returning to New Zealand. She entered the Worldloppet ski marathon circuit for the first time, racing 21 km at the Merino Muster and finishing on the podium in her age category. A new distance, a new challenge, and another direction in her journey.

  16. 2027 · Falun, Sweden

    World Championships, Falun

    A third start at the Worlds, with two editions already behind her.

  17. 2028

    Points, and the calendar

    Race starts and FIS points under the qualification rules, the season that sets up everything after it.

  18. 2029 · Almaty, Kazakhstan and Lahti, Finland

    Asian Winter Games and World Championships

    The Asian Winter Games in Almaty and the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, and the points between them that decide 2030.

  19. 2030 · La Clusaz, Haute-Savoie

    Winter Olympics

    The reason the rest of it is planned the way it is. Cross-country at the 2030 Games is held at La Clusaz, on the Confins plateau, 1 to 17 February.

The journey continues

Raced in fourteen countries

India · Kodagu (home) · Gulmarg · Auli · Himachal PradeshIceland · Akureyri · 2022, 2023, 2024 · FIS racesSlovenia · Planica · 2023 · Nordic World Ski ChampionshipsKazakhstan · Schuchinsk · 2024 · Eastern Europe CupSweden · Idre · 2024 · FIS racesAustria · Seefeld · 2024 · FIS racesNorway · Lygna · TrondheimChina · Harbin · 2025 · Asian Winter GamesChile · Antillanca · CorralcoFinland · Ruka · 2025 · World CupSwitzerland · Davos · 2025 · World CupNew Zealand · Snow Farm · 2026 · Southern-hemisphere seasonItaly · Dobbiaco · 2022 · Raiffeisen Cross-Country CupGermanyIndiaKazakhstanChinaIcelandFinlandGermanyChileNew ZealandNorway · SwedenSwitzerland · Austria · Italy · Slovenia
Austria · Chile · China · Finland · Germany · Iceland · India · Italy · Kazakhstan · New Zealand · Norway · Slovenia · Sweden · Switzerland