NYT SPORT: The Queen of Everest Trains While Working at Whole Foods
By Bhadra Sharma and Adam Skolnick
Section: Sports
Source: New York Times
She was back in Nepal after four long years, hoping to take in the view from the roof of the world for the 10th time. If successful, Lhakpa would break her own record for most Everest ascents ever by a woman.
Unlike the routines of most climbers, who drop into specialized training for months or even years, Lhakpa’s training regimen took place at a Whole Foods in West Hartford, Conn., where she carried large stacks of boxed fruits and vegetables. Occasionally, she hiked to the top of the 6,288-foot Mount Washington, a meager stand-in for the highest mountain on earth.
When she returned to Nepal last spring, Everest looked different. There was noticeably less snow and ice, and what was left felt less stable. The ropes and ladders that a team of Sherpa guides lashed across the chasms in the notorious Khumbu icefall had to be fixed daily rather than the usual once a week. More garbage was visible than in years past. There were dead bodies, too, a sight that is as devastating as it is common these days when the weather changes. Now, as a mother in her mid-to-late 40s — she doesn’t have a birth certificate and doesn’t know her exact birthday — she felt every ounce of the risk.
The first time Lhakpa touched Himalayan blue ice, she was barefoot. One of 11 children born to a shepherd and homemaker in the village of Makalu, Nepal, she grew up on the slopes of Mount Makalu, the world’s fifth-highest peak at 27,825 feet. Her family couldn’t afford shoes for every child, and only her brothers were sent to school. “We had no television and no phone. I used to spend my day watching sheep and birds,” she said. “I could see Mount Everest from my village.”
Published Date: January 31, 2023 at 02:00AM
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By Bhadra Sharma and Adam Skolnick
Section: Sports
Source: New York Times
Lhakpa Sherpa has climbed Mount Everest 10 times, the most ascents ever by a woman. She has no plans of slowing down.
When Lhakpa Sherpa trudged into Everest base camp alongside her 15-year-old daughter, Shiny Dijmarescu, last April, it felt like a homecoming.She was back in Nepal after four long years, hoping to take in the view from the roof of the world for the 10th time. If successful, Lhakpa would break her own record for most Everest ascents ever by a woman.
Unlike the routines of most climbers, who drop into specialized training for months or even years, Lhakpa’s training regimen took place at a Whole Foods in West Hartford, Conn., where she carried large stacks of boxed fruits and vegetables. Occasionally, she hiked to the top of the 6,288-foot Mount Washington, a meager stand-in for the highest mountain on earth.
When she returned to Nepal last spring, Everest looked different. There was noticeably less snow and ice, and what was left felt less stable. The ropes and ladders that a team of Sherpa guides lashed across the chasms in the notorious Khumbu icefall had to be fixed daily rather than the usual once a week. More garbage was visible than in years past. There were dead bodies, too, a sight that is as devastating as it is common these days when the weather changes. Now, as a mother in her mid-to-late 40s — she doesn’t have a birth certificate and doesn’t know her exact birthday — she felt every ounce of the risk.
The first time Lhakpa touched Himalayan blue ice, she was barefoot. One of 11 children born to a shepherd and homemaker in the village of Makalu, Nepal, she grew up on the slopes of Mount Makalu, the world’s fifth-highest peak at 27,825 feet. Her family couldn’t afford shoes for every child, and only her brothers were sent to school. “We had no television and no phone. I used to spend my day watching sheep and birds,” she said. “I could see Mount Everest from my village.”
Published Date: January 31, 2023 at 02:00AM
Read More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/sports/lhakpa-sherpa-everest.html
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