Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita (born 1984). is a Nepali

Sherpa SHERPA (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access) is an organisation originally set up in 2002 to run and manage the SHERPA Project. History SHERPA began as an endeavour to support the establishment of a number of open ...

mountaineer. She was the first woman in Nepal to become a mountaineering instructor, was one of the first Nepali women to reach the summit of K2, and has been active in

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

relief in Nepal. In 2016, she was named ''National Geographic'''s People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year,.. and was presented with the 45th International Alpine Solidarity Award in

Pinzolo Pinzolo () is a small town and situated in Val Rendena in Trentino in the northern Italian Alps at an elevation of . The Church of Saint Vigilius of Trent stands in the town. It is mainly known as a ski resort during the winter months and as a ...

, Italy..

Climbs

Akita was the first woman to climb Nangpai Gosum II, in 2006. In 2007 she climbed

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

, 14 years after another climber with the same name,

Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Pasang Lhamu Sherpa (Sherpa: , ; 10 December 1961 – 22 April 1993) was the first Nepalese woman to climb the summit of Mount Everest. Climbing career She was born into a mountaineering family and was involved in climbing from her teens. She h ...

, became the first Nepali woman to climb Everest but died in the descent.. Akita climbed K2 in 2014 as part of a three-woman team, the first team of Nepali women to climb the mountain... Climbing with Akita were Maya Sherpa and Dawa Yangzum Sherpa; they were part of a larger expedition that also included other (male) Sherpas and climbers. The climb was dedicated to climate change awareness, and took place on the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of K2. She has also climbed

Yala Peak Yala Peak is a mountain in the Langtang area in Nepal. Location The summit of the peak is located at above sea level and it provides a vantage point from where Shishapangma, , can be seen. The Tsergo Ri giant landslide occurred close to Yala ...

Ama Dablam Ama Dablam is a mountain in the Eastern Himalayas range of Koshi Province, Nepal. The main peak is , the lower western peak is . Ama Dablam means "mother's necklace"; the long ridges on each side like the arms of a mother (''ama'') protecting he ...

Lobuche Lobuche (also spelt Lobuje) is a Nepalese mountain which lies close to the Khumbu Glacier and the settlement of Lobuche. There are two main peaks, Lobuche East and Lobuche West. A permit to climb the mountain is required from the Nepal Mount ...

Imja Tse Imja Tse, better known as Island Peak, is a mountain in Sagarmatha National Park in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal. The peak was named Island Peak in 1953 by members of the British Mount Everest expedition because it appears as an island in a sea ...

, and

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in both the Western Hemisphere and the ...

. As well as mountaineering in Nepal, she has guided mountaineering expeditions in the USA, Argentina, France, and Pakistan.

Activism

Akita joined the Nomads Clinic, a medical service for remote regions of the Himalayas, in 2013. After the

April 2015 Nepal earthquake The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,962 people and injured 21,952 across the countries of Nepal, India, China and Bangladesh. It occurred at on Saturday 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of Moment magni ...

, she worked in the relief efforts, distributing blankets, helping make shelters for people that the earthquake had left homeless, organizing temporary medical facilities, coordinating relief convoys, and preventing

trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

of victims. She is also developing a foundation to assist women's education in Nepal.

Personal

Akita was born in

Khumjung Khumjung () is a village in Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality of Solukhumbu District in Province No. 1 of north-eastern Nepal. It is located in the Khumbu sub-region inside Sagarmatha National Park, a world heritage site. The village lies ...

, and raised in

Lukla Lukla ( ) is a small town in the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality of the Solukhumbu District in the Koshi Province of northeastern Nepal. Situated at above sea level, it is a popular place for visitors to the Himalayas near Mount Everest ...

. Her father died when she was young, and she and her younger sister were orphaned by the death of her mother when she was 15. They moved to

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, where she completed her high school studies and took a job as a mountaineer.. Four years later, she entered training at

Conrad Anker Conrad Anker (born November 27, 1962) is an American rock climber, mountaineer, and author. He was the team leader of The North Face climbing team for 26 years until 2018. In 1999, he located George Mallory's body on Everest as a member of a sea ...

's Khumbu Climbing Center. She has also earned a diploma in mountaineering from the (ENSA) in

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

. Her family owns a restaurant in

Louisville, Colorado The City of Louisville () is a home rule municipality located in southeastern Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 21,226 at the 2020 United States census. Louisville began as a mining community in 1877, experienc ...

, where she has occasionally worked in between her mountaineering expeditions. Her first name, Pasang, is the Nepali word for Friday, the day of her birth. She was given her full name after the earlier

, the first Nepali woman to climb Everest, whom she takes as a role model. The surname Akita comes from her husband, a Nepali physical therapist of Japanese descent whom she met while recovering from a climbing hip injury and married in 2010.

Awards

2016 - The George Mallory Award
Wasatch Mountain Film Festival

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akita, Pasang Lhamu Sherpa 1984 births Living people Nepalese mountain climbers Nepalese summiters of Mount Everest Sherpa summiters of Mount Everest Nepalese female mountain climbers