Nepali journalist makes history with triple Everest summits
Purnima Shrestha becomes the first woman to climb Mount Everest three times in a single season, achieving her third summit on May 25.
Nepali mountaineer Purnima Shrestha has made history by becoming the first woman to climb Mount Everest three times in a single climbing season.
Shrestha scaled the 8,848.86-meter peak at 5.50 am on Saturday, achieving the unprecedented feat, expedition organizers said.
Her first summit came on May 12 with climbing guide Phurba Temba Sherpa, the second on May 19 with Pasang Sherpa, and the third on May 25 with Karma Gyaljen Sherpa, according to Lakpa Sherpa of 8K Expedition. With three summits this season, she has climbed the world's highest peak a total of four times.
Shrestha, a photojournalist by profession and a well-known figure in Nepal's mountaineering community, has previously summited eight other mountains above 8,000 meters. She holds the record as Nepal’s fastest woman to climb the most 8,000-meter peaks.
In addition to Everest, which she first climbed in 2018, her summits include K2 (8,611m), Kanchenjunga (8,586m), Lhotse (8,516m), Makalu (8,481m), Manaslu (8,163m), Dhaulagiri (8,167m), and Annapurna I (8,091m).
Shrestha's remarkable accomplishment comes as the ongoing spring climbing season on Everest winds down, with most expeditions wrapping up and dismantling their camps. This season, at least 570 climbers and guides have successfully reached the summit, based on preliminary estimates.
