KATHMANDU: The name ‘Pasang Lhamu Sherpa’, Nepal’s first woman to summit Mt. Everest, actually gave another Pasang Lhamu Sherpa a burning desire to climb the world’s highest peak, Mt Everest.
Reason: This Pasang Lhamu Sherpa ‘Phinasa’ was often quizzed whether she was the same Pasang who set a record to become the first Nepali woman climber to ascend the Everest.
And she simply shook her head to say ‘no’. But this very question enthused her to give it a try. “What if I made it?” she questioned herself.
Her career began as a trekking guide in 2004. As a guide, she bumped into hundreds of foreigners, accompanied them up to the Everest Base Camp dozens of times. “They (foreigners) often asked me whether I had ever climbed the Everest?” says Pasang. Her answer was simply ‘no’ again but she had a burning desire deep inside.
Her life was never a bed of roses. She endured sufferings and failures. But never gave up.
Despite comprehending the difficulties and the exertions for a married woman and a mother of two children, Pasang made up her mind to give it a try. “As a mother of two, it was rather a tough task to convince my family,” she shared with Khabarhub.
She knew it was not impossible though. Therefore, she was determined for the attempt. Finally, on the May 16th of 2018 at 9:12 am, she made it to the top of Mt. Everest.
In the course of the conversation with Khabarhub, she peeks into her past. She reminisces her old days saying, “I used to see lots of foreign tourists (trekkers) passing through the route nearby my house at Khari Khola of Solukhumbu every day.”
Her parents who were hotel entrepreneurs and her cousins in the tourism sector encouraged her to work as a trekking guide. She then joined the trekkers’ contingent as a trekking guide.
After working for a few years, she got married to become a proud mother of two beautiful daughters. However, since her the fire inside her was still ablaze, she resumed her profession as a guide in 2013.
The majestic Everest continued to fascinate her. She recalls, “I studied in the school supported by the first Everest summiteer Sir Edmund Hillary. I have seen the decency in him. I had the respect towards him.”
Pasang also reminisces the moment when she had put a ‘khada’ to Sir Edmund Hillary, danced and sang in front of him when he visited the school. “These memories gave me the power and the enthusiasm,” says Pasang with a broad smile.
“You can obviously imagine how difficult it would be for a woman like me to convince my family members,” she continues with solemnity in her tone adding, “My husband, in fact, wanted me to stay at home and look after my family.”
Initially, her husband was against her idea of climbing Mt. Everest. But she insisted despite all agonies. The gravity of mental torture that she had to face from her husband was so immense that it gave more audacity. “I thought, I must go ahead, come what may,” she says.
Pasang did not want to subdue her determination. “I knew that if I fail in my first mission to climb the Everest, I would be a total failure in my entire life,” she narrates her story, adding, “I wanted to show and prove to my husband that I did it.”
With the slogan ‘Women Confidence’, she finally made it to the top of the world. Asked to elaborate the connotation of the slogan, she said it was aimed at raising the voice for the women, and to encourage them to move forward to be self-reliant.
She was, in fact, aware of the fact she would encounter dead bodies in the mountains that could lose her heart or even could hinder her mission. “I was determined to face any sort of impediments,” she adds as she had already climbed Ramdung Peak and Island Peak, as acclimatization to Mt Everest. “Therefore, I did not face any such trouble while climbing Mt Everest,” she says.
“Oh, the sun rays coming down at the balcony,” she exclaims, saying that those moments were unforgettable.
During her endeavor, she could learn the meaning of life. The snow taught her the value of life since life is unpredictable. “You never know what happens next,” she explains, “therefore, one needs to focus on completing one’s task rather than leaving it pending.”
She continues to describe her ascend: “You pass through the ridge, from the Hillary Step to the summit. From the ridge, you will see Nepal on one side while Tibet on the other. At that point, I was a bit scared thinking what if I fall from there on the Tibetan side. Won’t I disappear?”
However, it was a jiffy worry. She continued to climb the mountain and reached the top. What could be more triumphant moment than this for her? Her dreams accomplished, and a mission completed!
The clouds shining beneath her. The world beneath her. “Oh, I felt that I found the ‘Heaven on Earth’,” she exclaims with her face brightened.
Pasang said she learned a lesson: “If you start any mission for a cause, you will definitely succeed.”
This lady stayed around 45 minutes on the summit taking videos and photos. She waited for her team members including Yangdi Sherpa and Lakpa Yangi Sherpa of the Women Everest Expedition 2018 to reach the summit.
However, the descend was a bit difficult for her. Some uncomfortable fear crept into her mind. “Am I going to die?” I got the feeling adding, “What would happen to my two daughters if I die?” She, however, gathered all her courage and made it to the Base Camp.
During her summit, she had taken a photo of Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, the first Nepali woman climber to climb Mt. Everest, to mark the Silver Jubilee of her Everest summit. President Bidya Devi Bhandari had handed over the photo of Pasang Lhamu Sherpa and Madan Bhandari and a Nepal’s national flag to her team before the team left for the Base Camp.
“I take this a small step for women encouragement and to build confidence in them,” she says adding further, “I have many more things to do mainly to support women in every moment to increase their participation in all sectors, especially tourism”.
“You know what?” she queried, concluding the conversation with a positive note: “People will start praising you and treat you differently if you succeed in your endeavor. I have learned a lesson that giving up is not the solution. Continue to chase your dreams, success will kiss you!”
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