PM Oli wishes Maya success to climb 14 peaks above 8000m

Kathmandu: Maya Sherpa, vice-president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) and president of the Everest Summiteers Association is going to climb all 14 mountains above 8,000 meters in the world.

On Sunday, she left for Annapurna (8091m) and Dhaulagiri (8115m) in Gandaki province. On Saturday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli handed over the national flag and wished her every success in this venture.

“Prime Minister Oli wished  Maya Sherpa both a successful ascent and return. On the occasion, the Prime Minister also advised Sherpa to climb considering her health and physical condition, ” said a press note issued by the Nepal Mountaineering Association.  Earlier, Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) President Santa Bir Lama wished success and handed over the flag of the organozation.

“I’ve been on this expedition for a few years now. I’ve been climbing mountains above 8,000 meters,” Maya told Highlights Tourism. Her plan to climb Annapurna is the same as last year. According to Maya, she plans to climb Annapurna within a month and then Dhaulagiri.

“Even though climbing two big mountains in the same season is challenging, I think it will be a bit easier as  I will be climbing Annapurna earlier,” she said. Maya’s ascent in Annapurna is managed by Peak Promotion and Seven Summits in Dhaulagiri. Maya plans to climb all 14 mountains above 8,000 meters by 2024. “It’s an expensive job, it depends on the sponsor,” she says.

Born at Patle of Okhaldhunga district, Maya Sherpa’s father works as a trekking guide but Maya is the first person in the family to go mountaineering. Maya, who has been a trekking guide since 2003, is still pursuing the same profession.

Maya, who runs the company herself, is now the expedition manager. Maya, who has been mountaineering for the past 17 years, has so far successfully climbed the highest peaks, Mount Everest, three times and climbed 5 mountains above 8,000 meters.

Maya, who started climbing the 8,000-meter-high Mountains in 2004 by climbing the Cho Oyu (8,211m), has climbed the 8,848.68-meter Everest three times, K2 (8611m) in Pakistan, Manaslu (8156), and Kanchanjunga (8563m) in Nepal.  So far, only a small number of women have climbed all 14 mountains above 8,000 meters. After the success of this campaign, she will become the first woman climber to climb 14 mountains above 8,000 meters in South Asia and Nepal.

So far, five Nepali climbers have climbed 14 mountains above 8,000 meters, while 43 people from all over the world have already succeeded in climbing peaks above 8000m. The remaining mountains above 8000m to climb by Maya Sherpa are Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Lhotse, and Makalu in Nepal, Naga Parbat, Gasherbrum I, II, and Broad Peaks in Pakistan, and Sinsapa in China.