Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita scaled Mount Nanga Parbat (8,126m) in Pakistan becoming the first Nepali female climber to stand atop the world’s ninth highest mountain.
Akita climbed the mountain on July 1, expedition organizer Pioneer Adventures said. “I received a confirmation call just this morning,” said Nivesh Karki, General Manager of the outfitter.
Summit Karakoram, a Pakistani outfitter, wrote on Facebook that there was a delay in confirming Akita’s ascent as her satellite phone was down. They wrote that they have spoken to Akita about her summit attempts now that she has reached a town.
This is her eighth out of 14 peak above 8,000m. She is the first Nepali female climber to achieve this feat. “She will attempt to climb the remaining three 8000er peak in Pakistan this summer,” said Karki. If she succeeds, she will have climbed 11 of 14 peaks.
Akita has yet to summit Manaslu, Cho You and Shishapangma. while Manaslu is climbed from Nepal, Cho Oyu and Shishapangma are climbed from China. Nepali climbing guides are set out to open a commercial route onto Cho Oyu from the Nepal side this October. She plans to scale both the peaks in autumn this year. If China opens Shishapangma for foreign climbers, Akita plans to scale it too and achieve the 14 peaks feat within this year.
Akita was the first Nepali woman to become a mountaineering instructor. She was one of the three Nepali female climbers to summit K2 in 2014. She won the National Geographic’s People’s Choice Adventurer in 2016. She was awarded with International Alpine Solidarity Awards in the same year for her ‘generosity, courage and tenacity’. She worked tirelessly to serve the earthquake affected community in different parts of Nepal during 2015.
Dawa Yangzum Sherpa, who is also in Karakoram, is another Nepali female climber right behind Akita in the race to summit 14 peaks above 8,000m. She has already climbed 7 peaks.
Poornima Shrestha, another female climber, has also climbed seven peaks above 8,000m in Nepal. She did not join fellow Nepali climbers in Pakistan due to lack of funds.
