Nepal’s mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa has set a new record by successfully summiting the Mount Everest peak for the 23^rd time on May 14, 2019.

With the latest expedition, Kami Rita rose to records as the first person to have climbed Everest peak for the highest number of times.

Kami Rita was one among the 8 climbers who scaled the Everest peak on the day, opening trekking route to Everest for Spring 2019.

“It has been difficult this year and we were getting worried. But the weather finally improved for the eight to reach the top,” says Iswari Paudel of Himalayan Guides Nepal.

According to Paudel, many other teams are preparing to scale the peak in the coming days.

Nepal Government has issued a record number of 378 permits (of cost USD 11,000 per head) to mountaineers to climb the Mount Everest in this Spring 2019.

And, a Nepali guide has been assigned, who will be showing the path to 750 climbers to the top of the 8,850-metre (29,035-foot) peak in the coming weeks.

According to reports, an additional 140 members are planning for Mt Everest trek via the northern route from Tibet.

2018 saw a total of 807 climbers, with 563 people scaling from the south and 244 from the northern flank in Tibet.

Adverse conditions challenge climbers every time, and the last year saw the death of 5 climbers including an experienced Sherpa guide.

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After having set her mark globally as the eight-time climber to Mount Everest in the past, the Guinness Book record holder Lhakpa Sherpa completed her ninth one very recently.

Eight previous successful attempts apart, Sherpa says the recent one was the toughest among all she did so far.

For this rare feat, the tourism community of Nepal honored her with a certification for her contribution to the mountaineering activity in Nepal.
A Dedicated Climber
Beginning with her successful attempt in 2000 without any formal training, Lhakpa Sherpa moved on to make eight successful summits to Mount Everest and made her ninth one very recently on May 16, 2018.

With this, Lhakpa Sherpa broke her own record as the first woman to have made the highest number of summits to the Everest peak.

You will be shocked to know that Sherpa made two of her summits to the Everest peak, one immediately eight months after giving birth to her first child and the other while she was two months pregnant with her second child.

“I have been climbing mountains for women’s empowerment,” she says.

Besides, she has also been a guru during her life and has so far trained many trekking lovers. As on May 16, 2018, she guided a total of 50 trekkers up their journey to the Mount Everest.

An Inspiring Woman

Born in Makalu VDC of Sankhuwasabha (Nepal), the 44-year-old Lhakpa Sherpa lives in the United States with her three children.

Despite her lack of education, Lhakpa Sherpa never looked back in her life, from having begun her employment career at a very young age to balancing her personal as a mother of three kids and finally evolving as a successful climber and a Guinness Book record holder.

Sharing about her childhood, she says she would have loved to be a pilot or a doctor if not her current profession. As a girl in the ethnic Sherpa community, she could not get a chance to go to school. May be in that case, the world would have missed to see a climber in her.

 “If an uneducated woman who is a single mother can climb Everest nine times, any woman can achieve their dreams,” says Sherpa.

It was sixteen years ago that she left her home Nepal to the United States with her three kids (one boy and two girl children) after getting married.

Before she moved to the US, Sherpa and her brothers were working as Everest guides in Nepal where she faced various pushbacks for being a woman.

Sherpa’s passion for hiking mountains travelled all along from her personal life in Nepal to her employment career when she was assisting and carrying supplies for Everest climbers at her young age. She is currently working as a dishwasher with a firm called Whole Foods.

“You would never know she hiked Everest unless you knew her and talked to her about it. She’s the most humble person I know and her work ethic is astounding,” says Dan Furtado, the manager who recruited Lhakpa for Whole Foods.

“You would never know she hiked Everest unless you knew her and talked to her about it. She’s the most humble person I know and her work ethic is astounding,” says Dan Furtado, the manager who recruited Lhakpa to Whole Foods.

“We believe Everest is a god. The Earth and the mother. Mount Everest and I have a connection. I feel it talking when snow blows on the top of the mountain,” she adds.

She also strives to ensure that all her activities should be an inspiration to the women across the world and always wants to show the world that a woman, especially all alone, can do more in life. “We don’t give up. We will not go down after divorce, after hurt. I want to show them. I can do. You too,” she says boldly.

Seems sky is the only limit for her dedication. She says, “People who are 70 years old are still climbing Everest, I am no where there” and is all set for her next trip too again in the coming year.

So far, the record number for successful number of climbs to the Mount Everest was 21 shared by three men from the Sherpa community who worked as mountain guides. While two of them were already retired, Kami Rita become the topper by completing his 22^nd summit very recently.

Joining the way, Lhakpa Sherpa also made her mark in in the woman’s category. “I wanted to show that a woman can do men’s jobs. There is no difference in climbing a mountain. I climb for all women,” says Sherpa.

All the Best Lhakpa Sherpa, the world awaits many more such records from you in future. Keep Reaching ‘Everest’ Heights!

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Often described as a PhD in mountaineering, the course run by the Swiss-based International Federation of Mountain Guides (IFMG) has so far been awarded to 6000 people across the globe and to just 50 Nepali men.

Dawa completed the course in January 2018.

Belonging to the Sherpa ethnic group famed for mountain guiding, Dawa had no doubts about her choice of profession right from the beginning. “I knew what I wanted to do. My passion was to be outdoors, to climb. And my family did not discourage me,” says Sherpa.

Expeditions to Everest and Other Peaks

Dawa scaled her first mountain, Nepal’s 5,500-meter Yala Peak, at the age of 17.

After that, she has never looked back. Subsequently, she became part of various successful expeditions to the summits of other mountains before climbing the world’s highest peak Mount Everest in 2012.

Upon her return from the Everest expedition, Dawa registered to become a certified mountain guide. She then scaled one of the world’s toughest climbs, the K2 peak in Pakistan, as part of the first Nepali women’s team in 2014.

Dawa’s attempt to climb the Kangchenjunga, the world’s third highest peak, was curtailed by inclement weather in 2017.

Future Plans

The 27-year-old Dawa is looking forward to guiding an expedition to Denali, North America’s highest peak, in June 2018. She will also continue her work as an instructor at a couple of climbing schools in Nepal.

“She was already moving forward to become one of the top women mountaineers not just in Nepal but in the world, but this certificate will open many new opportunities for her,” says Sunar Bahadur Gurung, President of the Nepal National Mountain Guides Association.

Dawa Yangzum Sherpa’s success is undoubtedly an inspiration to all other girls and the entire women community of Nepal and the world in making their dreams come true and progress in life.

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This rule applies even to the world-famous Mount Everest, the ambitious trekking journey for any mountaineer across the world.

The ban also covers strict measures to the double amputees and blind climbers planning their trip to Mount Everest.

The new rule demands a written doctor certificate from the trekkers with disabilities to trek the world’s highest Everest peak.

Besides safety, the new rule is also expected to create employment opportunities to the Nepali communities like Sherpas as travel guides, among others.

Sar far, more than 200 mountaineers have died on Everest in the past century. 

Other Key Announcements

In another announcement, the Government of Nepal said the mountaineering expedition teams will have to pay more amount as life insurance coverage of its liaison officers to attempt to climb Nepal’s mountains including Mt Everest, starting this year.

The newly-revised regulation mandates rise in insurance cover for the liaison officers from Rs 600,000 (USD 6,000) to Rs 1.5 million (USD 15,000).

“The mountaineering expedition team shall make medical insurance, in amount of not less than Rs 400,000 (USD 4,000) for the peaks above 6,500 m and Rs 300,000 (USD 3,000) for other peaks below 6,500 m, of the liaison officer, headman, mountain guide, high altitude worker, base camp worker and local worker for their minor injuries in an accident,” read an official release.

The new provision also says ‘no’ to use of helicopter, aircraft and balloon for summitting a peak. This move is coming after a move by a Chinese climber Wang Jing who used helicopter to bypass the Khumbu Icefall to reach Camp II of Mount Everest in 2014.

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“It only adds to the insult to injury for the unsung heroes of mountain climbing,” said Norbu.

In this regard, Norbu (54) called upon the mountaineering industry, expedition companies, associations, and climbers to speak on behalf of the Sherpa climbers who were denied summit certificates by the government.

He went on to say, “for a true mountaineer, the pride and satisfaction of reaching a summit is far more important than a paper issued by a government office,” while pointing out at government’s reluctance to support Sherpa climbers.

Significant Development Only with Sherpa Community

Norbu, who is also an advocate for reducing risk on Mt Everest, said the clients should understand that a qualified Sherpa’s decisions on safety are as valid as those of the expedition leader.

According to Norbu, high altitude Sherpas and mountaineering workers are at a risk of losing their jobs if found discussing with the Sherpa families about the loss of lives of their family members during the mountaineering activity.

“My family is no exception and this issue of risk and inequity is never far from our minds. I think we can all benefit but significant change can only happen with a combination of self-regulation, involvement of the Sherpa community and if there is someone powerful locally to take on the industry,” noted Norbu.

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