Phur Diki Sherpa targets 24-hour Lhotse speed ascent in 2026
51-year-old Sherpa announced her ambitious speed ascent goal, saying she plans to return to base camp within a single day after reaching the summit.
KATHMANDU: Phur Diki Sherpa is preparing for a record-breaking ascent of the world’s fourth-highest peak, Lhotse (8,516 meters), aiming to complete a round-trip climb from base camp to summit and back within just 24 hours during the 2026 spring climbing season.
At a press conference held in Kathmandu on Saturday, the 51-year-old Sherpa announced her ambitious speed ascent goal, saying she plans to return to base camp within a single day after reaching the summit.
A historic figure in Nepalese mountaineering, Sherpa became the first Nepali solo woman to successfully summit Mount Everest in 2019, when she climbed alongside Nima Doma Sherpa.
She dedicated her upcoming Lhotse expedition to her late father, Ang Nima Sherpa—a senior icefall doctor—and his close friend, Eman Singh Gurung. “My father had a dream to climb Lhotse, but he could not fulfill it. I am now trying to complete that dream in his memory,” she said.
Sherpa added that she will carry photographs of both her father and Gurung to the summit as a tribute.
Born in Dingboche, Solukhumbu, she has an extensive climbing record including Ama Dablam, Himlung Himal, Island Peak (twice), Lobuche Peak (eight times), Mera Peak, Chulu Far East, Pokalde, and Phaldor Peak. She has also led women’s expeditions on Himlung Himal and Phaldor Peak.
Her training includes basic, advanced, and double advanced courses at the Khumbu Climbing Center, as well as certifications from the Nepal Mountaineering Association in basic climbing, rock climbing Level-1, and high-altitude rescue training.
Sherpa said her mission is not only personal but also inspirational: to show women worldwide that age and hardship are not barriers to achieving extreme goals.
