Apa Sherpa

Early life

Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa was born in Thame, a village in the Everest region of Nepal, near the Chinese border. Following his father's death when he was 12 years old, Apa had to take up the responsibilities of his family, consisting of his mother, two sisters and three young brothers. He dropped out of school and earned money working as a porter for mountaineering groups. His climbing career began in 1985, and he worked as a kitchen boy and porter for various groups but was not given the opportunity to reach the summit until 1990.

Personal life

Apa married Yangjin, then also a resident of Thame, in 1988 and has two sons—Tenjing and Pemba—and a daughter Dawa. A fourth child died in 2004. In December, 2006, the family moved to the United States with the help of his friend Jerry Mika to provide their children a better education and for business opportunities. They live in Draper, Utah.

In April 2009, Apa founded the Apa Sherpa Foundation, dedicated to the improvement of education and economic development in Nepal. When not on expeditions, Apa works for Diamond Mold, a precision machining and injection molding company in Salt Lake City, Utah that has also supported his foundation.

Climbing career

Apa first reached the summit of Mount Everest on his fourth attempt, on May 10, 1990, with a New Zealand team led by climber Rob Hall along with Peter Hillary, son of Edmund Hillary. He then began his career as Sirdar, or chief Sherpa, for many high altitude expeditions. He has reached the summit every year between 1990 and 2011, bar 1996 and 2001; all but three times have been in May, and in 1992 he reached the summit twice.

Apa in his May 2010 Trek says that climbing to Everest has become tough due to the melting of ice and rock surfaces. He sees visible changes on the Everest summit due to global warming.

Ascents of Mount Everest

Apa has climbed Mount Everest a total of 21 times, which stands as the current record. Aside from these 21 ascents, however, Apa has also participated in unsuccessful attempts.

May 2009 ascent

Apa broke his own record by reaching the summit of Everest for the nineteenth time on May 21, 2009. He was a member of The Eco Everest Expedition, led by Bill Burke, whose purpose was to raise awareness about climate change. The team spent half an hour at the top of the mountain, unfurling a banner that said "Stop Climate Change". The team brought down five tonnes of mountain trash that includes parts of a crashed helicopter, tin cans and climbing material. On this expedition, a friend and fellow Sherpa, Lhakpa Nuru, was swept away in an avalanche on May 7, 2009, and died.

May 2011 ascent

Apa again broke his own record by reaching the summit of Everest for the twenty-first time on May 11, 2011.

Great Himalayan Trail

On April 2012, he successfully led the first expedition to complete the Great Himalaya Trail, a 1,700-kilometre (1,050-mile) trek spanning the entire length of the Nepalese Himalayas. The Great Himalaya Trail is considered to be one of the world's most difficult treks. Sherpa and three companions set off in January on the Climate Smart Celebrity Trek, an expedition promoting tourism and highlighting the effects of climate change. The adventurers set out from the shadow of the world's third-highest peak, Mount Kanchenjunga, in the east and finished at Nepal's border with Tibet in the west, 20 days ahead of schedule. Along the way they traversed some of the world's most rugged landscapes, ascending beyond 6,000 metres (19,600 feet). Dawa Steven Sherpa, a member of the expedition who has climbed Everest twice, said the group found mountain communities that rely on subsistence farming were suffering the effects of climate change.