Nepali woman scales Mt Everest eight times breaking own record

KATHMANDU: A Nepali woman climber on Saturday set a new record by scaling Mt Everest for the eighth time.

Lhakpa Sherpa, 44, stood atop the summit of world's highest mountain for the eighth time from the North Col (Tibetan side) as a handful of climbers got a very short window to make their final summit pushes this morning, according to expedition organisers.

“Lhakpa reached the summit point at around 6:35 am,” Mingma Gelu Sherpa, Managing Director at Seven Summit Adventure,  told THT Online over telephone from the advanced base camp.

Before leaving for Tibet in mid April, Lhakpa had said that she wanted to show that Nepali women have the courage and endurance to perform their best despite all their hardships.

The mother of three reached the summit point along with Nima Dorjee Sherpa* today.

Born in Makalu VDC of Sankhuwasabha, Lhakpa scaled Mt Everest from Tibet side for the seventh time in the last spring season.

“This time, she broke her own record,” Sherpa said.

Lhakpa had reportedly scaled Mt Everest eight months after the birth of her first daughter and while she was two months pregnant with her second child.

Without having any formal training on mountain climbing, Lhakpa, who grew up with 11 siblings, first climbed Mt Everest from Nepal side in 2000.

She wants to climb Mt Everest for 10 times, according to her.

A  former Seven-Eleven store worker who had ended her 12 years of marriage with Romanian-American climber George Dijmarescu two years ago, Sherpa believes in mental strength as the key to success. “I feel stronger while being on the mountain and it’s all about the courage and endurance," she had said before leaving Kathmandu for the Everest expedition last month.

It’s a proud moment for all stakeholders including the mountaineering community as a Nepali woman set a new record on Mt Everest, Executive Director at Nepal Mountain Academy Lhakpa Futi Sherpa, reacted.

READ ALSO:

*Name corrected