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Mountain Queen: How Lhakpa Sherpa summited Everest 10 times

Born above 13,000 feet in Nepal, Lhakpa Sherpa had to dress as a boy to first find work as a porter. She has now summited Everest more times than any other woman on earth.

Lhakpa Sherpa was born and raised in Nepal, in a village perched 13,000 feet high. At 15 she cut her hair and dressed as a boy to become a porter, working for the tourists who had come to attempt Mount Everest. But Lhakpa had plans of her own, she too wanted to scale the world鈥檚 highest peak.

By 20 she had become the first Nepalese woman to summit Mount Everest and survive. At 50, she has now done it 10 times, more than any other woman on earth. But life has been a battle, and the mountains have brought her both love and tragedy. She tells her story in the Netflix documentary Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa. The Nepalese film Daughters of Everest was made about her first summit.

Presenter: Ramita Navai
Producer: Helen Fitzhenry
Interpreter and voice over: Sachi Mulmi

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Lhakpa Sherpa. Credit: Netflix)

Available now

41 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Thu 11 Jul 2024 11:06GMT
  • Thu 11 Jul 2024 17:06GMT
  • Thu 11 Jul 2024 21:06GMT
  • Fri 12 Jul 2024 02:06GMT

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