View source for Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita

{{distinguish|Pasang Lhamu Sherpa}}
{{short description|Nepali Sherpa mountaineer|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{about|the 2016 Adventurer of the Year|the first Nepali woman to top Mount Everest|Pasang Lhamu Sherpa}}
'''Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita''' (born 1984)<ref name="ny">{{citation|title=Medical Mountaineers: Delivering basic care to the remote Himalayas|first=Rebecca|last=Solnit|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=December 21, 2015|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/12/21/medical-mountaineers}}.</ref> is a Nepali [[Sherpa people|Sherpa]] mountaineer. She was the first woman in Nepal to become a mountaineering instructor, was one of the first Nepali women to reach the summit of [[K2]], and has been active in [[earthquake]] relief in Nepal.<ref>{{citation|title=Mountaineer Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita: One of Nepal’s rising stars in climbing immersed herself in earthquake relief efforts, showing her courage both on and off the mountain|magazine=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]|date=November 13, 2015|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventurers-of-the-year/2016/pasang-lhamu-sherpa-akita/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103182027/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventurers-of-the-year/2016/pasang-lhamu-sherpa-akita/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 3, 2016}}.</ref> In 2016, she was named [[National Geographic (magazine)|''National Geographic'']]'s People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year,<ref name="aoy">{{citation|title=This Sherpa Woman Is Our Adventurer of the Year|magazine=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]|date=February 4, 2016|url=http://adventureblog.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/04/pasang-lhamu-sherpa-akita-adventurer-of-the-year/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208144208/http://adventureblog.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/04/pasang-lhamu-sherpa-akita-adventurer-of-the-year/|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 8, 2016|first=Mary Anne|last=Potts}}.</ref><ref name="kp">{{citation|newspaper=[[The Kathmandu Post]]|url=http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-06-19/pasang-lhamu-sherpa-akita-receives-nat-geos-award.html|title=Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita receives Nat Geo’s award|date=June 19, 2016|first=Garima|last=Chaulagain}}.</ref> and was presented with the 45th International Alpine Solidarity Award in [[Pinzolo]], Italy.<ref name="trentino">{{citation|url=http://trentinocorrierealpi.gelocal.it/trento/cronaca/2016/09/11/news/premio-solidarieta-alpina-alla-sherpa-pasang-lhamu-1.14087973|title=Premio Solidarietà Alpina alla sherpa Pasang Lhamu|language=it|first=Elena Baiguera|last=Beltrame|date=September 11, 2016|newspaper=Trentino<!-- it:Trentino (quotidiano) -->}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref>
==Climbs==
Akita was the first woman to climb [[Nangpai Gosum|Nangpai Gosum II]], in 2006.<ref name="ny"/>
In 2007 she climbed [[Mount Everest]],<ref name="ffmi"/> 14 years after another climber with the same name, [[Pasang Lhamu Sherpa]], became the first Nepali woman to climb Everest but died in the descent.<ref>{{citation|title=One Mountain Thousand Summits: The Untold Story of Tragedy and True Heroism on K2|first=Freddie|last=Wilkinson|publisher=Penguin|year=2010|isbn=9781101456132|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-Wlg6VAzJUC&pg=PT116|page=116}}.</ref><ref name="snowballs">{{citation|magazine=[[Rock & Ice]]|title=Snowball Fight on K2: Interview with Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita|first=Alison|last=Osius|date=February 17, 2016|url=http://www.rockandice.com/climbing-news/snowball-fight-on-k2-interview-with-pasang-lhamu-sherpa-akita|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161218125716/http://www.rockandice.com/climbing-news/snowball-fight-on-k2-interview-with-pasang-lhamu-sherpa-akita|archive-date=December 18, 2016}}.</ref>
Akita climbed K2 in 2014 as part of a three-woman team, the first team of Nepali women to climb the mountain.<ref name="r+i">{{citation|title=First All-Female Nepalese Team Summits K2|first=Chris|last=Parker|date=July 29, 2014|magazine=[[Rock & Ice]]|url=http://www.rockandice.com/climbing-news/first-all-female-nepalese-team-summits-k2}}.</ref><ref name="elout">{{citation|url=http://www.elevationoutdoors.com/pasang-lhamu-sherpa-akita/|title=Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita speaks|first=Chris|last=Kassar|magazine=Elevation Outdoors|date=October 13, 2014}}.</ref> Climbing with Akita were [[Maya Sherpa]] and [[Dawa Yangzum Sherpa]]; they were part of a larger expedition that also included other (male) Sherpas and climbers.<ref>{{citation|title=Controversy Over "All-Female" Summit of K2—Men Aided Climb|first=Kelley|last=McMillan|date=August 7, 2014|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140807-k2-women-nepal-pakistan-mountain-summit-controversy/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811051607/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140807-k2-women-nepal-pakistan-mountain-summit-controversy/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 11, 2014|magazine=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]}}.</ref> The climb was dedicated to climate change awareness, and took place on the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of K2.<ref name="r+i"/>
She has also climbed [[Yala Peak]], [[Ama Dablam]],<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.mountainfilm.org/festival/schedule/events/2016-presentation-pasang-lhamu-sherpa-akita|title=2016 Presentation: Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita|publisher=Telluride Mountain Film|access-date=2016-11-07}}.</ref> [[Lobuche]],<ref name="ffmi"/> [[Imja Tse]],<ref name="snowballs"/> and [[Aconcagua]].<ref name="trentino"/>
As well as mountaineering in Nepal, she has guided mountaineering expeditions in the USA, Argentina, France, and Pakistan.<ref name="trentino"/>
==Activism==
Akita joined the Nomads Clinic, a medical service for remote regions of the Himalayas, in 2013.<ref name="ny"/> After the [[April 2015 Nepal earthquake]], she worked in the relief efforts, distributing blankets, helping make shelters for people that the earthquake had left homeless,<ref name="aoy"/> organizing temporary medical facilities,<ref name="trentino"/> coordinating relief convoys, and preventing [[human trafficking|trafficking]] of victims.<ref name="ny"/> She is also developing a foundation to assist women's education in Nepal.<ref name="ffmi"/>
==Personal==
Akita was born in [[Khumjung]],<ref name="kp"/> and raised in [[Lukla]].<ref name="aoy"/> Her father died when she was young, and she and her younger sister were orphaned by the death of her mother when she was 15. They moved to [[Kathmandu]], where she completed her high school studies and took a job as a mountaineer.<ref name="ffmi">{{citation|title=Trail Blazer: Nepal's First Female Mountaineering Instructor|first=Chris|last=Kassar|date=September 1, 2016|magazine=[[Climbing (magazine)|Climbing]]|url=http://www.climbing.com/people/trail-blazer-nepals-first-female-mountaineering-instructor/}}.</ref> Four years later, she entered training at [[Conrad Anker]]'s Khumbu Climbing Center.<ref name="aoy"/> She has also earned a diploma in mountaineering from the {{ill|École nationale du ski et de l’alpinisme|fr|École nationale des sports de montagne}} (ENSA) in [[Chamonix]].<ref>{{citation|title=Charitable Expedition Makes History On World’s Second Highest Peak|date=August 1, 2014|magazine=Women's Adventure|url=http://www.womensadventuremagazine.com/extreme-outdoors/first-female-nepali-team-summits-k2/}}.</ref>
Her family owns a restaurant in [[Louisville, Colorado]], where she has occasionally worked in between her mountaineering expeditions.<ref name="elout"/>
Her first name, Pasang, is the Nepali word for Friday, the day of her birth.<ref>{{citation|title=World’s greatest mountaineers gather for Sherpa community Losar celebration|newspaper=[[Vail Daily]]|first=Randy|last=Wyrick|date=March 5, 2016|url=http://www.vaildaily.com/entertainment/activities-events/worlds-greatest-mountaineers-gather-for-sherpa-community-losar-celebration/}}.</ref> She was given her full name after the earlier [[Pasang Lhamu Sherpa]],  the first Nepali woman to climb Everest, whom she takes as a role model.<ref name="snowballs"/>
The surname Akita comes from her husband, a Nepali physical therapist of Japanese descent whom she met while recovering from a climbing hip injury and married in 2010.<ref name="ny"/>
== Awards ==
2016 - The George Mallory Award - [https://wasatchfilmfestival.org/awards/george-mallory/ Wasatch Mountain Film Festival] <ref>{{Cite web|title=George Mallory Award|url=https://wasatchfilmfestival.org/awards/george-mallory/|access-date=2020-12-16|website=Wasatch Mountain Film Festival|language=en-US}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akita, Pasang Lhamu Sherpa}}
[[Category:1984 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Nepalese mountain climbers]]
[[Category:Nepalese summiters of Mount Everest]]
[[Category:Sherpa summiters of Mount Everest]]
[[Category:Nepalese female mountain climbers]]