Every time her brothers returned home after climbing mountains, Nima Lhamu Sherpa would hear stories of adventures in the Himalayas.
Most of her siblings were climbing guides and had climbed several peaks including Mount Everest. Their stories would fill young Nima's heart with the desire to climb mountains – but she wasn't sure whether she would get that chance.
On May 12, the 21-year-old eventually realised her childhood dream in style as she set foot on Mount Everest, becoming the eighth sibling in her family to climb Everest. Her success also broke the record of most climbs by siblings that her family shared with another Sherpa family.
Before Nima, her six brothers – Pemba Gyalzen Sherpa, Pemba Dorje Sherpa, Phurba Thundu Sherpa, Nima Gyalzen Sherpa, Phurba Tenjing Sherpa and Phurba Thiley Sherpa – and a sister, Dawa Diki Sherpa, had already climbed Everest.
"The happy faces of my brothers always led me to believe that mountaineering was fun. My own summit made me realise that it's very dangerous work requiring a lot of hard work, courage and determination," Nima tells dpa.
The university student says that she was especially afraid while crossing Khumbu Icefall, a section of icefalls and crevasse at an altitude of 5,486m, and had to intermittently take oxygen due to altitude sickness.
"The ascent was comparatively easier. I found descent from the summit very difficult as one ought to get downhill along a steep, narrow ridge with the help of ropes," says Nima.
Although Nima had never climbed a mountain except Mount Lobuche, she stood up to all the challenges with assistance from her brothers.
On the summit, her two brothers Pemba Dorje and Nima Gyalzen were also with her. It was their 21st and ninth ascent respectively. Two other siblings were at the lower camps to guide their expedition.
"I was fortunate that my brothers were there to guide me on every step. I wouldn't have succeeded without their support and guidance," says Nima.
Phurba Tenjing, one of the siblings who was guiding Nima from the lower camps, says that he was a little afraid about his sister's safety given the tragedy that struck his family two decades back.
At that time, one of their siblings, who was also among the Everest summiteers, died while climbing Mount Pumori.
"Since we have already lost a family member in the mountain, I was concerned about her safety throughout the expedition," says Phurba Tenjing.
One key factor in the family's feat is its involvement in the climbing and trekking business. Five of the siblings are guides who have helped dozens of climbers head up the world's tallest peaks.
In Rolwaling, the siblings' village at an altitude of around 4,000m northeast of Kathmandu, a majority of people work in the tourism sector, especially as trekking guides, porters and cooks.
"Survival is very hard at that altitude because you can't grow much except potato and radish. Our family was big, but our parents raised us with great hardship and made us strong enough to stand on our own feet," says Phurba Tenjing.
Sherpa is an ethic group of Tibetan origin living in Nepal's highland bordering Tibet. Earlier, the Sherpa community used to remain dependent on farming, animal husbandry and trade. But most are in the tourism sector these days, mainly because the income is better compared to other sectors. Because they are raised in mountains and used to the terrain, they are more suitable to work in the highland.
The Sherpa guides and porters have become so essential in climbing that the surname itself has become a synonym for climbing assistants.
In the course of climbing mountains in the Himalayas, Sherpa climbers have several records in the climbing industry. In 2020, a team of Nepali guides became the first to climb Mount K2 in winter, a historic feat in mountaineering.
There are now three siblings in the family left who have not climbed Everest.
"It will depend on their interest and how things go in the future. If they show interest, our family might have more Everest summiteers," says Phurba Tenjing. Nima says that some of her siblings are planning to travel to London to register their family's new feat with the Guinness World Records.
The family's achievement is one of the many records made at Mount Everest in 2021, a year that was also beset by a coronavirus outbreak at the base camp.
Most notably, a Hong Kong school teacher, Tsang Yin-hung, became the fastest woman to climb Everest, while an American man became the oldest from his country to climb, according to reports.
Kami Rita Sherpa also broke his own record after setting his feet on the top of Everest for the 25th time.
Tsang, who climbed Everest in 25 hours and 50 minutes, says that she could have done much better.
"Actually, my goal this time was to do a speed climb in 19 hours. So, I still feel kind of half-finished," Tsang, who climbed through Phurba Tenjing's expedition company, tells dpa. – dpa
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