KATHMANDU, MAY 30
A record holding woman climber has offered her award to the Everest Summiteers Association for the establishment of climbers' welfare fund.
Phunjo Jhangmu Lama, who set the world record for the fastest woman to scale Mt Everest from Nepal side in 2018, said that she donated Rs 200,000 to the ESA to establish climbers' welfare fund for the wellbeing of the country's climbing fraternity.
Phunjo, who is the first Nepali female helicopter long-line rescuer, was awarded with Rs 50,000 by the government on the occasion of Sagarmatha Day in 2021.
"She has contributed an additional Rs 150,000 along with a purse of Rs 50,000 that she received as Tenzing-Hilary award by the government, to the ESA" Shiva Bahadur Sapkota, General Secretary at ESA, informed.
According to ESA, the fund was handed over to ESA acting President Diwas Pokhrel and General Secretary Sapkota.
Phunjo, the long-line sling rescuer, said that she wanted to support Nepali climbing communities and others in need. "I have also supported rural communities for their livelihood," she said, adding that she also offered her support to rural families in times of COVID-19 crisis.
"We will use the amount to establish climbers' welfare fund," Sapkota said, adding that the fund will mainly be utilized to support the needy families of Nepali climbers in coming days.
Born in Chhokangpaaro village of Tsum valley in Gorkha, Phunjo scaled Mt Everest, Mt Manaslu, Mt Cho Oyu and other peaks including Amdablam, Lobuche and Denali. She had scaled Mt Everest in 39 hours 6 minutes in 2018.
Phunjo, a single-mother, also looks after son Yongden and daughter Tenzing.
