Everest accepts Nepali women climbers

By Bhushita Vasistha

The First Inclusive Women Sagarmatha Expedition Spring 2008 (FIWSE), in contrast to adverse speculations of many cynics, succeeded in creating history with their recent ascent on Mount Everest or Sagarmatha, the other names of Chomolungma — the Sherpa name of the tallest summit in the world.

Their successful expedition to Everest has set more than a record, and more importantly, broke a myth that women (read Nepali women) can't dare climb mountains. And even if a few scaled it, they were considered more of an exception than the norm.

Sushmita Maskey, team coordinator of FIWSE, had once said in her past interview, “Even as a toddler, I had the urge to be on top, whether it was a hill, a mountain or just a pile of dirt. Later, I realized I was obsessed with climbing and reaching the top."

And so it was. Certainly, climbing a pile of dirt was one thing and scaling Everest quite another. However, be it any height, it is courage and concentration that actually matters.

And the ten summiteers — Asha Kumari Singh, Shailee Basnet, Nima Doma Sherpa, Pujan Acharya, Maya Gurung, Pema Diki Sherpa, Nawang Phuti Sherpa, Usha Bista, Chunu Shrestha — had these virtues with them.

The first group scaled Everest on May 22, followed by the second group on May 24, and the third on May 25.

To climb the highest mountain in the world is an absurd act in itself. Courage looks absurd from the outside but only those who have been through the courageous act know of the transformative effects it has had on the psyche of the individuals.

Therefore, praising the efforts of these ten courageous women, the Government of Nepal organized a felicitation program at Nepal Tourism Board in Kathmandu on June 13.

Speaking at the felicitation program, Lila Mani Poudyal, secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, said, “The summiteers have not only succeeded in encouraging Nepali women but also inspired the international community at large.”

“Climbing Everest taught me many things, among which the greatest of all is the power of unity. If just ten women can come together with a common motive, even Mount Everest is not an impossible feat,” said Shailee Basnet, who reached the Everest on May 24.

“I always wanted to see the summit on my own. Therefore, I always escaped the presentation programs, where the summit was shown, or even discussed. And the Everest summit is so amazing that even if you are very close to it, you'll still miss the view,” she resumed, “When I first beheld the sight of the summit, I was taken aback. It seemed all those difficult times we went through were worth going through.”

The group embraced the whole spectrum of Nepali society in terms of ethnicities, geography and professions as well.

To begin with, Sushmita has modeled for many international brands while Asha Kumari Singh is a beautician. Asha's odyssey from an orthodox Madheshi family in Janakpur to being a member of a high-Alpine expedition team already bears testimony to her strength to face challenges. Another expeditionary,  Shailee Basnet, is a journalist at Himal Media while Pujan Acharya is an activist and athlete. Pema Diki Sherpa is an acupuncture nurse.

On the other hand, the crew also included members as young as  seventeen-year-old Nima Doma Sherpa to thirty-one-year-old Nawang Phuti Sherpa.

The history of Nepali women summiteers is not that encouraging. In fact, only seven Nepali women summiteers have scaled Everest in contrast to hundreds  of their male counterparts.

Interestingly, when the noted mountaineering historian Elizabeth Hawley once asked The First Woman's Summit on Everest Expedition in 1975 why there was no Nepali woman, the expedition leader told her that she could find none.

"I was always surprised why Nepali woman couldn't make it to Everest expeditions. Initially, I thought it was perhaps because they were not robust enough. Nevertheless, during my stint as a mountaineering instructor in the United Kingdom, France and a few other countries, I realized it had nothing to do with physical strength but rather with the degree of opportunities available," said Da Gombu Sherpa, one of the conceivers of the expedition.

According to the group, the expedition is not an ultimate project but just a beginning of many national and international ventures. Its major goal, as Sushmita shared, is not to endorse a few more names to the list of Everest summiteers but a genuine attempt to provide an opportunity to aspiring women climbers to prove themselves.

"Climbers’ Club, which has organized the expedition, will continue with the theme 'Unity in Diversity' in the coming future, too," said Da Gombu, speaking in the capacity of founder president of the club.

The expedition was supported by Nepal Government, UNDP, World Food Program (WFP), FEDEX, among other promoters.

Expression of Tourism

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