National 8 (Spotlight Weekly)

Inspiring Feat

By setting foot on the top of the world twice, Pemba Doma Sherpa exhibits the perseverance of Nepalese women

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Pemba Doma Sherpa has become the first Nepalese woman to have scaled the 8,848-meter-high Mount Everest from both the northern and southern faces. The 32-year-old climber said she decided to climb the world's tallest mountain from the Tibetan and Nepalese sides to bolster the image of her country.

Pemba grew up in the backyards of Himalayas. She spent her childhood in the laps of the mighty mountain range. Pemba lost her mother when she was two years old. Although her sisters stayed in Kathmandu, Pemba lived with her grandfather in Namche Bazaar.

Fond of her grandfather, Pemba used to help him out at his small lodge. "My grandfather is my inspiration," Pemba said. "I even used to bunk school classes to be near him and go out traveling with him in the mountains."

Pemba atop Everest: Illusrious feat

Namche Bazaar, a small settlement on the lap of Mount Everest and the gateway to the base camp, was where Pemba grew up. She was impressed with the herds of tourists thronging her town and leaving for the mountains. "Seeing all those tourists go up the mountains, I wanted to do the same," Pemba said. "Every time I saw new climbers, my desire only deepened," she said.

During her high school days in Khumjung, Solukhumbu, Pemba was drawn closer to her dream. While shepherding her yaks, she always longed to set her foot higher and higher. The environment in which Pemba grew up was very much in keeping with her desire.

When her classmates were memorizing nursery rhymes, Pemba was learning to put her steps on steep mountain slopes. At the tender age of seven, Pemba had already clambered up to an altitude of 5,000 meter. She honed her skills while accompanying her grandfather, who also worked as a mountain guide.

Pemba marked her first successes on the 6,200-meter Island Peak in the Khumbu region and Lobuche, which is known as one of the hardest peaks to climb. Slowly but steadily, Pemba was building up the motivation and the means to try her luck with the mighty Everest.

The only thing that stood in the way was money. Pemba knew that scaling the world's tallest mountain was no cheap task. During her early 20s, she got an opportunity to go to France where she worked as baby-sitter and began to save money. She also began to take classes in rock-climbing in Europe.

Since she was a natural-born-climber, the feat was not so difficult for her to achieve. Besides, Pemba belonged to the Sherpa clan, which is famous all over the world for their legendary skills in traveling in high altitudes. It was not long before Pemba had the chance to translate her desire into action.

In late 1999, she received a call from a friend who said that a Swiss team was planning an Everest expedition and that it had four female members. "I was immediately excited. So I said I was willing to become a part of the team," said Pemba. At that time, she did not know that the team was planning to scale the mountain from the Tibetan side.

When she set her foot on the Everest summit on May 19, 2000, Pemba became the first Nepalese woman to scale the mountain from the northern side. "It was a wonderful experience. I spent nearly 40 minutes on the peak. I exchanged greetings with fellow climbers. It was like we were in heaven. The clouds were below us."

The first person she remembered atop the summit was her grandfather. "In fact, when I reached the summit, I still had doubts whether I could return alive. There were tremendous hazards." But return she did. Pemba was decorated with the Prasiddha Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu by His Majesty the King.

Not content with one experience, Pemba went on to scale the Everest a second time this year. On May 16, 2002, Pemba reached the summit from the southern side. "This year is the International Year of Mountains and I really wanted to climb Everest from Nepalese side as well," said Pemba.

Climbing the Everest from the southern side was a little more difficult. "There was this Khumbu Icefall where we really had to be extremely careful. It was essential that we crossed the icefall quickly and without losing confidence." Climbing a mountain is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical one, she said.

Now that she has scaled Everest twice, Pemba has set her sights a little lower - on other peaks. "But then I would need sponsors to do so," she said.

From a girl from Solukhumbu enthralled by the majestic mountains around her to a record-setting climber, Pemba has certainly come a long way - and all because of her hard work. She hopes her feat could serve as an inspiration for Nepalese women working in all professions.