Climbing
A new speed record for the fastest ascent by a woman has been set on Mount Everest. Summiting Mount Everest (29,032 feet) from base camp at 17,598 feet typically takes climbers multiple days to reach, as the magnitude of the climb is so immense, and acclimatization is crucial. However, Phunjo Lama is no stranger to extreme altitude. Lama previously held the record for fastest ascent of Everest for a woman until 2021, when Ada Tsang Yin-Hung summited the mountain in 25 hours and 50 minutes. Lama returned to the summit of Mount Everest on Thursday, May 23, crushing the record by reaching the peak in 14 hours and 31 minutes.
Phunjo Lama was born in the Chhokangpaaro village of Tsum, and spent most of her childhood in the mountains. Embracing her passion for the mountains, Lama became the first woman from Tsum Valley to summit Mount Everest in 2018. She also climbed Mount Cho Oyu, the sixth-highest mountain without oxygen.
Climbing through the night, Lama started the ascent from base camp at 3:52 pm on May 22 and summited at 6:23 am on May 23. The summit happened to fall on Buddha Jayanti, a Buddhist celebration marking the birth of Buddha, which Lama hoped would spread a message of world peace. Phunjo Lama’s brother Sonam Lama spoke with the Australian Brodcasting Corporation (ABC) last week and shared this story of his sister.
“I’ve noticed since childhood that she always liked to be close to the mountains and terrain while we got afraid of going to the big mountains.”
— Soman Lama
Traffic on Everest has been troublesome for some time now due to the short weather windows and a sheer number of climbers summiting the peak. Lama’s brother also told ABC that the traffic had slowed her ascent.
“Because of the traffic she had to struggle, otherwise she could have made it in fewer hours.”
Lama’s impressive record was followed up by Sherpa Kami Rita breaking his own record by summitting Everest for the 30th time. Rita first summited Everest in 1994, and he has reached the summit in nearly every season since.
May typically provides good weather windows for summitting the world’s tallest peak. Despite the success climbers are experiencing on the mountain, this month has seen many tragic accidents. So far in the 2024 season, there have been eight deaths reported, still less than the record-breaking 18 from last season.
