Nepali becomes first woman to climb Everest twice in a week

Reuters: A young Nepali sherpa climber has become the world’s first woman to scale Mount Everest twice in a week, Guinness World Records has confirmed.

Nepalese climber Chhurim Sherpa, who holds the world record for women climbing Mount Everest twice in one week on May 12, 2012 and May 19, 2012, poses with her Guinness record certificate in Kathmandu on February 25, 2013. (AFP PHOTO/Prakash Mathema)

Churim Sherpa (29) climbed the 8,850 metre (29,035 feet) Everest summit on 12 and 19 May last year.

“This is a big recognition for me,” Chhurim, who like most sherpa’s is known by her first name, told Reuters.

Chhurim, who hails from the Solukhumbu region in Northeastern Nepal that is home to Mount Everest and other notable peaks, returned to the base camp for some rest after her first ascent only to head back up the peak seven days later.

“It was difficult and hard while climbing up the second time. But once I reached the top everything was fine,” she said.

“I was very happy that I could accomplish what I had always wanted to do.” She said she wanted to return to Mount Everest sometime but had no immediate plans to do so.

Mount Everest has been climbed by about 4,000 climbers since it was first scaled by New Zealand beekeeper Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953. Apa Sherpa, a Nepali climber who lives in the US, holds the record of 21 ascents of Mount Everest.