She woke up before sunrise, put on her gear in the biting cold, and began climbing. Again. For the eleventh time.
At 9:30 in the morning on May 17, 2026, Lhakpa Sherpa stood on top of Mount Everest the highest point on Earth and made history. Again.
She is 52 years old. She has done this more times than any other woman alive. And she is not done yet.
Who Is Lhakpa Sherpa?
Lhakpa Sherpa was born in 1973 in a small village called Balakharka, in the Makalu region of Sankhuwasabha district in northeastern Nepal. She grew up in one of the most remote parts of the country, far from cities, schools, and opportunity.
She never went to school as a child. There was no time, and no path that led there. Instead, she learned the mountains. From a young age, she worked as a porter carrying heavy loads up steep trails so that others could climb. It was hard, exhausting work. But it was the beginning of something extraordinary.
Nobody handed Lhakpa Sherpa anything. She built her career step by step, load by load, summit by summit.
The First Time She Changed History
On May 18, 2000, Lhakpa Sherpa did something no Nepali woman had ever done before. She climbed to the top of Mount Everest and came back down alive.
That sentence might sound simple. But it was historic.
Many people had tried before her. The mountain is brutal temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius, winds can reach hurricane speed, and the air at the top has so little oxygen that most people cannot think clearly, let alone walk. Everest does not forgive mistakes.
But Lhakpa Sherpa made it up and made it back. She became the first Nepali woman to summit Everest and survive the descent. Nepal celebrated. The world took notice.
She was 27 years old.
Not Once. Eleven Times.
Lhakpa Sherpa has now done it eleven times.
Each time she returned to that mountain, she broke her own record. Each climb added another chapter to a story that keeps getting more remarkable. She became the first woman in history to summit Everest ten times. And now, with her 11th summit on May 17, 2026, she has extended that record even further.
No woman on earth has stood on top of Everest more times than Lhakpa Sherpa.
What Makes Her Story Even More Remarkable
Records and numbers are one thing. But what makes Lhakpa Sherpa’s story genuinely moving is the life behind the records.
She did not come from wealth or privilege. She did not have famous coaches, expensive training programs, or easy access to the best equipment. She came from a village, worked as a porter, and climbed her way quite literally to the top of the world.
She also summited Everest from both sides from the south, which is the more commonly used Nepal route, and from the north, through Tibet. That is an achievement only a handful of climbers can claim.
And Everest was not her only mountain. In 2023, she climbed K2 the second-highest mountain in the world and one considered by many climbers to be even more technically difficult and dangerous than Everest. That climb added another dimension to her already towering legacy.
The Mountain Queen
People call her the “Mountain Queen.” It is a title she has earned completely.
Her story reached a global audience through the documentary film Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, which brought her life and climbs to viewers around the world. For many people, it was the first time they learned her name. For those who already knew it, the film was a reminder of just how extraordinary her journey has been.
What She Means to Nepal
In Nepal, mountaineering is woven into national identity. The country is home to eight of the world’s fourteen highest peaks, including Everest. Sherpa climbers have been essential to virtually every major Himalayan expedition for over a century.
But Lhakpa Sherpa’s story goes beyond mountaineering. She represents something specific and powerful for Nepali women proof that no background, no lack of schooling, no difficult start in life can stop a person from achieving something world-class.
She climbed out of poverty and into the history books. And she did it with her own hands, her own legs, and her own extraordinary will.
Eleven Summits. One Remarkable Life.
At 9:30 on the morning of May 17, 2026, when Lhakpa Sherpa stood on top of the world for the eleventh time, she was not just setting a record. She was completing another chapter in one of Nepal’s greatest personal stories.
Born without a school to go to. Raised in one of the toughest corners of the Himalayas. And now, at 52, still climbing. Still reaching. Still standing at the top.
The Mountain Queen has not come down from her throne.
