Charitable Expedition Makes History On World’s Second Highest Peak

On July 27, three Nepali women climbers summited K2, the second-highest peak in the world, and made history. The all-female expedition was climbing to raise awareness about climate change and to encourage sustainable development in the Himalaya. They also inspired women everywhere as they topped out at 8,612 meters on the 60th anniversary of the mountain’s first successful summit bid.

The team consisted of three veteran mountaineers:

 

Maya Sherpa is a climbing guide and has been the first Nepali woman to stand on many peaks. Her climbing credits include Everest (north and south routes, and summiting twice in 2006 and 2007), Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Shishapangma, Baruntse, Pumori, Khan Tengri, and Ama Dablam. She is also a national finalist in weight lifting.

 

Dawa Yangzum Sherpa is an accomplished ultra-marathon and high-altitude runner, having finished second among women in the Everest sky race 350k and also completing the 350k Annapurna Mandala Trail race. She has summited Everest, Yala, and Ama Dablam, as well as Island Peak in the Grand Tetons, and completed rescue ranger training at Mt. Rainier.

 

Pasang Lhamu Sherpa trained to be a mountaineer in Nepal, but received a mountaineering diploma from ENSA, in France. She has climbed Everest from the Tibet side, and scaled Yala, Nangpai Gusung, Ama Dablam, and other peaks. She was the first woman to climb the 7,321-meter Nangpai Gosum peak and is a mountaineering instructor and guide in Nepal and the U.S.

 

 

Women’s Adventure salutes these three mountaineers and their accomplishment. Read more about their climb and their cause on the website k2expedition2014.org.

 

 

Category: Extreme