Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita (born 1984)
[.] is a Nepali
Sherpa 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 earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
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 ( Lombard: ''Pinsöl'') is a small town and ''comune'' 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 du ...
, Italy.
[.]
Climbs
Akita was the first woman to climb
Nangpai Gosum II, in 2006.
In 2007 she climbed
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
,
14 years after another climber with the same name,
Pasang Lhamu Sherpa
Pasang Lhamu Sherpa (Sherpa: , ne, पासाङ ल्हामु शेर्पा; 10 December 1961 – 22 April 1993) was the first Nepalese woman to climb the summit of Mount Everest.
She was born in a mountaineering family a ...
, 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
Arnold Coster (born Arnold Schiedam, 1976, Netherlands) is a Dutch mountaineer.
Educated as a mechanical engineer, he became intensely involved with climbing at a young age when he started climbing in the Alps. He moved to Nepal in 2003 to foll ...
and
Dawa Yangzum Sherpa
Dawa Yangzum Sherpa also known as Dawa Yangzum is a Nepali born mountain climber and the first woman to become an international mountain guide from Nepal.
Life
Dawa Yangzum started her professional mountain climbing in 2009 with Yala Peak marki ...
; 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 Ya ...
,
Ama Dablam,
Lobuche,
Imja Tse
Imja Tse, better known as Island Peak, is a mountain in Sagarmatha National Park of 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.
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, 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 of victims.
She is also developing a foundation to assist women's education in Nepal.
Personal
Akita was born in
Khumjung
Khumjung ( ne, खुम्जुंग) 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 subregion inside Sagarmatha National Park, a world heri ...
,
and raised in
Lukla.
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
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, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...
, where she completed her high school studies and took a job as a mountaineer.
[.] Four years later, she entered training at
Conrad Anker's Khumbu Climbing Center.
She has also earned a diploma in mountaineering from the (ENSA) in
Chamonix.
Her family owns a restaurant in
Louisville, Colorado, 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
Pasang Lhamu Sherpa
Pasang Lhamu Sherpa (Sherpa: , ne, पासाङ ल्हामु शेर्पा; 10 December 1961 – 22 April 1993) was the first Nepalese woman to climb the summit of Mount Everest.
She was born in a mountaineering family a ...
, 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