Nisha Adhikari is an actor, director, producer, mountaineer and social activist. She has climbed Everest and Kilimanjaro and is an avid traveler.
Nisha’s journey began on the small screen, making people laugh in a comedy show called “Gharbeti Ba” on Kantipur Television. But she had bigger dreams. In 2009, she stepped into the world of movies with “Mission Paisa”. The film was a hit, and Nisha was on her way to becoming a household name.
As her star rose with successful films like “Nainraresham” and “First Love” in 2010, Nisha harbored a secret ambition. For years, she had dreamed of standing on top of the world – literally.
Adhikari set a goal to climb Everest 10 years before her expedition. In a podcast with Sanjaya Silwal Gupta, she shared that in 2006 she reached out to Shailee Basnet, a Nepalese mountaineer and coordinator of the “Seven Summits Women Team”—the first all-female team to climb the highest mountain on each continent. Basnet guided and encouraged her to climb Mount Everest.
For the years, Nisha balanced her acting career with her mountaineering passion. She trained hard with the Nepal Mountaineering Association for a year, preparing for the challenge of a lifetime.
Finally, on May 21, 2013, Nisha Adhikari made history. At 8,848.86 meters above sea level, she became the first Nepali actress to stand atop Mount Everest.
But Nisha’s Everest story didn’t end there. Nine years later, in 2022, she returned to Everest Base Camp. This time, she was there to support and cheer on Deeya Pun, who was attempting to become the second Nepali actress to climb Everest.
Nisha didn’t let being an actress stop her from becoming a mountaineer. She showed everyone that you can be more than one thing in life, and that the sky (or in her case, the summit) is the limit.
Her journey from TV to movies to Mount Everest is a reminder to all of us that our dreams are worth chasing, no matter how high they might be.
