International Women’s Day is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It’s also a call to action for equality in how women are paid, treated and their role in society.
To celebrate, we’re featuring notable women all month—inspiring female adventurers, travellers, and activists who have a message to share.
Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita was the first female Nepali mountaineering guide. She climbed Everest, Ama Dablam, Lobuche and she was on the first Nepali women’s team to summit K2, a mountain that claims the lives of one in four people who try to climb it. In 2016, she was presented with the 45th International Alpine Solidarity Award, dedicated to people who distinguished themselves for bravery, solidarity and altruism in mountains, she was recognized for: “her great generosity, spirit of sacrifice and expert capability with which she rescued and helped her people during the tragic earthquake in 2015.” In 2016, Pasang was also named National Geographic’s People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year.
Pasang was raised in Lukla, Nepal but finished high school in Kathmandu. When she was 15, she and her sister relocated after they were orphaned by the death of their mother. In Kathmandu, Pasang started studying mountaineering. Four years later, she enrolled in the Khumbu Climbing School. Then she earned a diploma in mountaineering from the École Nationale du Ski et de l’Alpinisme in Chamonix, France.
We spoke with Pasang about her path to guiding the highest peaks in the world, her goal to educate Nepali girls, how travel changed her and her new adventure as a mom.
It’s only coincidence that I share a name with the first Nepali woman to climb Mt. Everest, Pasang Lhamu Sherpa. I am Buddhist so when I was born my parents took me to the lama to get a name. I was born on Friday, so my first name is Pasang. Lhamu means goddess. Sherpa is my surname. And then I took a second surname from my husband when we married, which is Akita.
I grew up in Lukla. I walked to school every day, about 30 minutes each way, and I’d see many people coming to climb mountains and to trek. I wanted to be like these people. Many Sherpa also climb mountains. But Sherpa mountaineers are mostly men.
Most Sherpa don’t support the idea of women climbing in the Himalayas–they think it’s a male job and too dangerous for women.
But it was my dream to be a mountaineer and to guide. I love the mountains. I grew up in the mountains and in nature.
After high school, I took mountaineering classes, then I went to the Khumbu Mountaineering School. I trained there, but I didn’t see many other women training, and I didn’t see any other women working in the mountains. But I knew that being a mountaineering guide was what I want to do. I feel so comfortable in the mountains–it is my home.
Getting a job was really hard.
Mountaineering is physically demanding and people think women aren’t strong enough. It was hard to get on expeditions. Then I met a Spanish couple who were looking for a trekking guide in Khumbu. I am from Khumbu, and they offered me a job and paid me really well. So in 2006, I went on an expedition to an unclimbed peak. There I met a Japanese guy who said I could come on his expedition to Everest in 2007. After that, I came to the U.S. and guided on Mt. Rainier for Alpine International.
In the U.S., I felt more encouraged. It was a little bit hard for me to work in such a different culture than mine. But in the U.S. there are lots of women working in the outdoors. I feel more freedom here. In Nepal, being in mountains surround by all men, people talk about you. You’re not just another guide, but a woman guide. There is not equal pay for women and men guides.
In the U.S., women are treated equally in the mountains.
By being a guide, I want to show that women can also work in mountains, that mountain guiding can also be a profession for women, that the mountains are for everyone.
Culturally, in Nepal, women are encouraged to be home.
Woman are supposed to get married at an early age and then take care of family and children. The expectation is that a woman will be a good wife, good daughter and good daughter-in-law. When we work, we’re encouraged to do indoor things, like be a nurse or teacher.
Many men mountaineers are big and strong. But women have other characteristics that are good on an expedition. In general, women have a loving, caring nature. Nurturing is instinct for women. When you are guiding, your job is not just taking clients into the mountains, but back home safely. Women use their softer, female approach to help clients reach their goals, including male clients.
Travelling gives me life.
On every trip, I learn so many things. When you see different countries, different lifestyles, you realize how happy and comfortable you already are. Your problems go away. When you stay in one place, you always want more, and you’re never satisfied when you have it. In Nepal growing up, I’d complain that women are always behind and that they never get treated equally. Then I travelled in Pakistan when I climbed K2, and I saw that women are not allowed to be in a picture, not allowed to walk by themselves, and I realized that Nepal is much better than Pakistan for women.
I am 34. I am married. I have a two-month-old son. If I can teach him one thing, it’s that he should follow his dream, do what he really wants to do. I will always encourage him to listen to his heart. I will raise him in Nepal most of the time. This year, I will guide more trekking but no climbing so I can take him with me.
After the Earthquake in Nepal in 2015, we brought a lot of medicine and supplies to remote communities. Most of those communities have rebuilt, though some of the most remote are still living under tarps. I am still taking medicine to elderly people in remote areas, and helping Burmese refugees in Kathmandu.
I’m happy when I look back, and that I chose mountains and that the mountains accepted me. I am happy that I can be an example for young Nepali women. I don’t have a big goal to climb this or that right now. What I want to do is help Nepali girls get an education.
I was very lucky as a child. Even though both my parents died by the time I was 15, I was able to go to school. I got a basic education that helped me to get where I am. Many women in Nepal can’t get a basic education. Their parents are too poor. I am planning to create a scholarship program for remote areas. I don’t want to take girls from their communities—it’s important for them to learn their culture and to be part of village life.
But only with education can a girl make her life better; you need an education to change your life.
I am not educating girls so that they can be mountaineers. Once a woman has an education, she can be whatever she wants. I want to support what women want to become.
I have big respect for women who stay home and care for their family. Climbing mountains is selfish–I always think about me. But to be home taking care of babies, other women quit their dream. It’s selfless.
When I was a mountaineering guide, people would always ask me, “When do you become a mother?” They’d tell me, “you have been married for five or six or seven years now, it’s time to get settled down.”
Whether I wanted to have a child or not was always a big question for me. I was always asking myself, “Should I, shouldn’t I, what will happen with my career, will I be able to climb mountains with a baby?” I never planned on having a baby, but it happened. And it’s an incredible experience.
Yes, I climbed K2, and Mount Everest and many other big mountains.
But being a mother is my biggest accomplishment. When you start climbing a mountain, you know it will be dangerous and that it’s going to be hard. But when you get to the top you forget about all the effort. Having a baby is a different adventure but similar too. Once you see the baby’s face you forget the hardship. It’s a very amazing moment and a special thing. It’s only been two months, and I am enjoying it so much.
Pasang’s story was documented by Vermont-based writer, photographer and adventurer Berne Broudy.
Are you a woman looking to climb every mountain and stomp out stereotypes in the process? Then let TourRadar connect you to thousands of incredible hiking and trekking trips around the world and channel your inner Sherpa.
