Interview with Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita, Adventurers of the Year 2016

Congratulations to mountaineer Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita, our 2016 People's Choice Adventurer of the Year!One of Nepal’s rising stars in climbing immersed herself in earthquake relief efforts, showing her courage both on and off the mountain. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook Nepal, killing more than 8,800 people, injuring thousands more, leaving 2.5 million people homeless, and triggering massive avalanches on Everest. When the ground began to shake that day, Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita had just sat down to a cup of tea in Gorak Shep, a small town an hour’s walk from Everest Base Camp. She was with an American client, Christopher Wynne, who she had just guided up 20,075-foot Lobuche Peak, and a Sherpa friend, who had been on the mountain when Pasang Lhamu and two other women became the first Nepali women to climb K2—considered the most dangerous mountain in the world. They heard a deafening boom, saw an enormous powder cloud hurtling toward them from the direction of Everest, and rushed to slam their doors against it. The cloud settled and left the town covered in snow. Determined to do what she could to help the victims of the avalanche that had just hit Everest, Pasang Lhamu gathered a group of people and started to hike toward Everest Base Camp. Nationalgeographic