17/08/2026
DO YOU KNOW HER ?
Maya Sherpa, The first Nepali woman to summit Ama Dablam (6,812 meters) on October 23, 2003.
Life Story :
When Maya Sherpa was a little girl in a village in the hilly district of Okhaldhunga, she often saw her father and uncles guide foreigners on treks. When the men returned, they would bring new clothes and delicacies for their families. Maya had heard of villagers who had forged lasting friendships with trekkers. There were stories of foreigners helping their guide’s family, sometimes even his entire village, climb out of poverty.
That was how Maya saw that trekking could help improve her life. She dreamed of becoming a trekking guide.
Even as a child she did not live according to other people’s expectations. “I never accepted gender stereotypes, never backed out of a difficult task because I was a girl,” she remembers. Her relatives often told her parents that Maya would achieve great things.
“I always wanted to do something that required courage. I wanted to stand out from the crowd. I wanted to be an example for women, no matter what profession I chose.”
When she was seven, her parents sent her to live with her uncle’s family in Kathmandu. School became her priority, and the girlhood fascination with trekking dwindled. When she passed her School Leaving Certificate exams, her ambition in life was to join the Nepal Police. But she didn’t have acquaintances in high places–something people told her was a prerequisite for getting in. She did not even try.
But Maya was not one to wallow in despair. “I always wanted to do something that required courage. I wanted to stand out from the crowd. I wanted to be an example for women, no matter what profession I chose.”
She took up weightlifting and boxing. However, all these were not careers paths for a woman in Nepal—at least not in the early 2000s. A couple of years went by with Maya spending her days training in things that she never saw as career paths. Maya’s father wasn’t pleased.
Maya walked for hours to a friend’s apartment. During that long walk she had decided that she would not return home until she had done something big.
Maya’s father wasn’t pleased.
One day when Maya was 21 and still unemployed, her father launched into yet another harangue on the importance of earning a living. Unable to stand the lecture, Maya stormed out of the house in a rage. A strike had been called on that day; there was no public transportation on the streets.
Maya walked for hours to a friend’s apartment. During that long walk she had decided that she would not return home until she had done something big.
The Call
A couple of days passed but Maya had not figured out what she was going to do to earn a living. She decided to go to her uncle’s house, where she had lived for years after coming to Kathmandu. When she got to her uncle’s front door, the phone was ringing.
She went in and answered it.
It was a man from her village, a trekking guide. He had phoned to ask if her uncle knew a woman who could guide female clients on a trek. He asked Maya if she would like to give it a try. Maya took the offer.
The trekking company decided to give Maya a chance.
Home » Lifestyle » Maya Sherpa: Story of the first Nepali woman to scale Ama Dablam, Cho Oyu, Pumori, Baruntse, Khan Tengri
Maya Sherpa: Story of the first Nepali woman to scale Ama Dablam, Cho Oyu, Pumori, Baruntse, Khan Tengri
Kapil Bisht Kapil Bisht
Kapil Bisht
Sunday, March 19, 2017
0Comments
20
Shares
facebook sharing buttontwitter sharing buttonmessenger sharing button
When Maya Sherpa was a little girl in a village in the hilly district of Okhaldhunga, she often saw her father and uncles guide foreigners on treks. When the men returned, they would bring new clothes and delicacies for their families. Maya had heard of villagers who had forged lasting friendships with trekkers. There were stories of foreigners helping their guide’s family, sometimes even his entire village, climb out of poverty.
That was how Maya saw that trekking could help improve her life. She dreamed of becoming a trekking guide.
Even as a child she did not live according to other people’s expectations. “I never accepted gender stereotypes, never backed out of a difficult task because I was a girl,” she remembers. Her relatives often told her parents that Maya would achieve great things.
“I always wanted to do something that required courage. I wanted to stand out from the crowd. I wanted to be an example for women, no matter what profession I chose.”
When she was seven, her parents sent her to live with her uncle’s family in Kathmandu. School became her priority, and the girlhood fascination with trekking dwindled. When she passed her School Leaving Certificate exams, her ambition in life was to join the Nepal Police. But she didn’t have acquaintances in high places–something people told her was a prerequisite for getting in. She did not even try.
But Maya was not one to wallow in despair. “I always wanted to do something that required courage. I wanted to stand out from the crowd. I wanted to be an example for women, no matter what profession I chose.”
She took up weightlifting and boxing. However, all these were not careers paths for a woman in Nepal—at least not in the early 2000s. A couple of years went by with Maya spending her days training in things that she never saw as career paths. Maya’s father wasn’t pleased.
Maya walked for hours to a friend’s apartment. During that long walk she had decided that she would not return home until she had done something big.
Maya’s father wasn’t pleased.
One day when Maya was 21 and still unemployed, her father launched into yet another harangue on the importance of earning a living. Unable to stand the lecture, Maya stormed out of the house in a rage. A strike had been called on that day; there was no public transportation on the streets.
Maya walked for hours to a friend’s apartment. During that long walk she had decided that she would not return home until she had done something big.
The Call
A couple of days passed but Maya had not figured out what she was going to do to earn a living. She decided to go to her uncle’s house, where she had lived for years after coming to Kathmandu. When she got to her uncle’s front door, the phone was ringing.
She went in and answered it.
It was a man from her village, a trekking guide. He had phoned to ask if her uncle knew a woman who could guide female clients on a trek. He asked Maya if she would like to give it a try. Maya took the offer.
The trekking company decided to give Maya a chance.
Within days of the phone call the trekking company hired Maya and sent her on a ten-day trek to Pumori Base Camp. While on the trek, Maya made up her mind to become a trekking guide. Before sending Maya on that trek her bosses had told her that if she proved herself to be a capable guide there was another, longer, trek lined up for her.
Maya found herself in Langtang, attending a basic mountaineering training held by the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
She did well on the trek, and within days of guiding her first trek, Maya was part of a group on a 25-day circuit of the Manaslu region. Once again the company tabled a delicious offer: if Maya managed to prove herself on the high passes, some of which were over 5000 meters, the company would consider paying for a basic training and sending her to climb mountains.
Maya proved to be capable at high altitudes, and the trekking company kept its word. Maya found herself in Langtang, attending a basic mountaineering training held by the Nepal Mountaineering Association. She was the only woman in a group of 32 trainees.
“There wasn’t another woman to talk to during that training period, but I felt proud rubbing shoulders with men,” Maya says.
A week after she completed her training, Maya’s life changed forever. The company Maya worked for also outfitted big expeditions. Among their clients was the renowned mountaineer Daniel Mazur, who wanted to see more Nepali women in the male-dominated mountaineering profession. He offered to sponsor Maya’s expedition to Ama Dablam.
Just like that, Maya found herself on the mountain. Then, history: on 23 October 2003, Maya stood atop Ama Dablam, the first Nepali woman ever to do so.
Maya’s success on Ama Dablam made her see that mountaineering offered ample opportunities for women. But the media attention that followed blew her away. Major newspapers and TV channels came to her for interviews. She saw that climbing was not only about money; it was a profession that offered fame and esteem. She decided to become a mountaineer.
In the years that followed Maya summited one mountain after another. She was the first Nepali woman on Cho Oyu (8,201 m), Pumori (7,161 m), Baruntse (7,129), and Khan Tengri (7,010 m). “People would tell me, ‘For you climbing mountains is becoming like going up Swoyambhunath: you just go and you get to the top.’”
Maya has been on 16 expeditions so far, all but two of which have resulted in successful ascents: bad weather denied her a chance to summit Lhotse, and on Shishapangma back pain forced her to turn back a mere two hundred meters from the summit. She has summited Everest thrice.
She is also the only Nepali woman alive today to have scaled Everest from the north and the south side.
