Students from Harbingers’ Nepali Newsroom interview renowned woman climber about Mount Everest
October 2019. View on the Mount Everest from the Buddha Air aircraft, Everest Experience Himalayan scenic flight out of Kathmandu, Nepal.
November 14, 2024
‘Dream big, never give up’: What famous Nepali climber Purnima Shrestha told us
Mount Everest, located in the Solukhumbu district of Nepal, is the highest mountain in the world, at 8,848.86 metres. The Chinese–Nepali border runs across the summit: the Nepali name is Sagarmatha (‘goddess of the sky’), while Tibetans call it Qomolangma (‘holy mother’). The official Chinese name is Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng.
There are only 14 mountains higher than 8,000 metres in the world, located in the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges across Nepal, Tibet (China) and Pakistan. Eight of these “eight-thousanders” are in Nepal: Everest, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Makalu, Manaslu and Cho Yu.
Many mountaineers come to Nepal to climb these mountains during spring and autumn, but Mount Everest is only climbed in the spring (April and May).
Many people from around the world visit Nepal every year to climb Mount Everest. So far, more than 6,600 people have climbed Everest. We have read about some climbers in books and through the media. They include Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, Kami Rita Sherpa, Babu Chiri Sherpa, and Nirmal Purja. Norgay and Hillary were the first people to climb Everest, on 29 May, 1953. The first Nepali woman to climb it was Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, in 1993 (tragically, she died on the descent).
10 things you should know about Nepal
We met a famous Nepali female mountaineer this summer, when she came to our classroom and shared her experiences. Her name is Purnima Shrestha. This year, aged 33, she created a new world record by climbing Everest three times in 13 days.She is the first female climber to set such a record.
She comes from a small village in Gorkha district. She looks very young, but we knew that she is super-strong. She has already climbed other “eight-thousanders,” including K2. She had already climbed Everest in 2018. She also climbed Manaslu without oxygen. She plans to climb all the 14 highest mountains of the world. She said the strong Sherpa guides are there to guide and help the climbers.
Purnima is also a photojournalist and she showed us her expedition photos and videos. She shared that the view of the sunrise from the top of Everest was so beautiful.
We learned about how the climbers climb, sleep and eat. They spend more than one month in the mountains. We were surprised. The team spent so many days at base camp, which looked very beautiful. They sleep in tents, and train on the ice. They also have fun with other climbers.
We also learned what clothing they wear, such as big boots, jackets and down suits. They also carry oxygen. In the videos, we saw that the weather was very dangerous. There were strong winds and deep snow, and the climbers were roped together.
We learned that mountaineering is a very risky profession. So many people die on the way. But Purnima said that mountaineering is her dream, and she has worked very hard to achieve success.
She asked us to study and work hard to achieve our dreams. She said that education is very important: “You can take any profession, but you should first complete your education.”
She said, “Dream big, never give up. Work hard. Only then will you be successful.” We feel very inspired by her words.
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