Her Mount Everest Record May Inspire More Nepali Women to Climb

Nepali photojournalist Purnima Shrestha doesn’t fit the stereotype of the imposing and rugged mountaineer. She stands barely five feet tall, and comes across as soft-spoken and shy. Her easygoing attitude stands in sharp contrast to that of mountaineers who post their latest achievement on social media. When I met her at a cafe in Kathmandu, just five days after she stood atop Mount Everest, the only physical evidence of her mountaineering accolades was the sunburn on her cheeks. Shrestha, 33, earned that sunburn by ascending Mount Everest three times in just 13 days—an accolade that no other woman has ever achieved.

Shtrestha was not born into wealth—her parents were subsistence farmers in a remote village in the Gorkha region of central Nepal. Her childhood home lacked running water, and as a child she fetched drinking water with a large copper pot. Shrestha has now climbed eight peaks above 8,000 meters, and she’s not done. I caught up with Shrestha to talk about her recent accolades on Mount Everest, and her background in Nepal.

OUTSIDE: I interviewed you after your second climb of Mount Everest this spring. What can you tell us about your third ascent of the mountain?
The big push of the third climb began when I left Camp II at dawn. It was the early hours of May 25th, and I was making my way to the summit. I had crossed this route twice in the past two weeks but this time around, exhaustion set in early. My guide, Karma Gyalzen, and I were the only ones on the mountain. Fatigue dulled my mind and made every step feel heavier. I was so sleepy that I had to scoop up handfuls of snow and toss them on my face to wake up. Thankfully, the sky was clear and the wind was manageable. But I knew it was best to not think about the summit yet but focus on taking one step at a time. Just like that, at nearly 1 P.M. I reached the summit, securing the record. The day was clear, with no wind in sight. Karma Gyalzen and I were the only people to summit that day, and we spent almost an hour at the top. I was overwhelmed with emotion.

What can you tell us about your upbringing in Nepal?
I never planned on being a mountaineer. After school, I moved to Kathmandu and studied to become a photojournalist. Then, during a photography assignment in 2017 covering the annual Everest Marathon, I was introduced to the world of mountaineering. I was completely taken by the Himalayas and regretted that it took me so long to meet the mountains. I told my friends that I wanted to climb Everest. I wanted to know how it feels to climb to the top of the world, to see the view from there, and to understand how difficult it is. I did it in 2017. Where I come from, most women are reared for domesticity. They have an incomplete education, if any, followed by early marriage, prompt motherhood, and a life of domestic chores. I grew up in a very modest home, and we had to grow crops for our survival.

Why did you want to take on this record?
It wasn’t something that I had planned for a long time. After I climbed Everest the first time in 2018, I wanted to do it again, but to do something different on that ascent. In 2022 I climbed Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, and Makalu in one month. That made me confident that I could climb Everest three times in a month as well. I also new that if I did something new or noble on Everest, people would pay attention. Most Nepal women have never even seen Mount Everest up close, let alone thought they could climb it. We are often conditioned to believe that such feats are beyond our reach. Undertaking this challenge felt very important to me. It was about breaking a long-held belief and opening up new opportunities for showcasing our potential. By achieving this, I hope to motivate other Nepali women to believe in their capabilities and to pursue their dreams, no matter how insurmountable they may seem. It’s about redefining what we can achieve and proving that with dedication and courage, we can conquer the highest peaks. I hope this change in perception around Nepali women in mountaineering happens soon.

As a female journalist in Nepal, I’ve often felt that my gender becomes a focal point in certain situations. Climbing is a male-dominated sport, and I’m curious if you’ve felt similar challenges in your profession. 
It feels like I’m climbing a different Everest compared to everyone else. My journey is not only about scaling the peak, it has been about gathering the resources to do so and convincing those around me of my capabilities. As I descended from the summit, breaking a record filled me with joy. But slowly, I started feeling the burden of the loans I took out to pay for the expedition. The journey to even reach the mountain was a struggle, especially without sponsorship. It is undeniably costly. As a photojournalist from a modest background, it has been immensely challenging to secure funds. At the negotiating table, the fact that I was a woman and only five-feet tall, nobody believed I could do it. Climbing is expensive. The entire expedition this year has cost me approximately $56,000. Loans from friends and family allowed me to secure almost 30 percent of the funds as a down payment. I was prepared to do whatever it took to pursue the project, whether it meant working as a mountain guide or washing dishes at base camp for the next season. For the rest of it, I took out a loan from my guiding company, 8K Expeditions. The company believed in my abilities and decided to trust me with the record. Being a woman in this sport added another layer of complexity There is a pervasive belief that women are less capable in outdoor sports. Many family, friends, and fellow climbers told me not to do it. Luckily, I had great weather and a great team with 8k, and I was successful. Now when I hear people talk about this simple Nepali girl from Gorkha who broke a record. I feel truly happy. I’m on the top of the world.

What are your future goals in mountaineering?
The number of Nepali women involved in mountaineering can still be counted on one hand. I am now regularly contacted by young girls who tell me they want to climb mountains, too. They say I inspired them to believe that, even as young women from Nepal, they can conquer Everest too. It fills my heart with joy to know I’ve made such an impact. I would love for this to open people’s minds. Right now, I’m focused on climbing all 14 8,000-meter peaks. I have ample experience at high altitudes, with successful summits of eight peaks over the past seven years. The biggest barrier for me is still funding, as I have yet to secure sponsorship from outside Nepal as many athletes do. But I’m confident that with the right support, I can summit all 14 within a year or two.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.