Lhakpa Sherpa

Lhakpa Sherpa holds the world record for the most successful summits of Mount Everest by a woman.

Born in the remote village of Balakharka in Nepal’s Makalu region, Sherpa was denied an education in a society that sent only boys to school. So she concealed her gender to work as a porter, marking the start of her mountaineering career.

In 2000, she became the first Nepali woman to summit and safely descend Everest. In 2022, she completed her tenth ascent, becoming the first woman to do so.

A single mother of three and abuse survivor, she lives modestly in Hartford, Connecticut and once worked as a dishwasher at Whole Foods to raise her children and fund her passion. Her story gained international attention through the 2024 Netflix documentary Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, which followed her tenth Everest attempt.

In July 2023, she also demonstrated her elite climbing abilities by summiting K2—nicknamed the “Killer Mountain”—for the first time. In 2025, her goal is to summit the highest points in all 50 US states.

She currently runs her own company, Hiking with Lhakpa, where she leads hikes in the US and the Himalayas.