Woman Summits Everest 10 Times While Working Grocery Store

While most people struggle to climb a flight of stairs, Lhakpa Sherpa has stood on top of Mount Everest ten times. Yet until recently, her name remained unknown outside mountaineering circles, even as she made history with every summit.

Born in a small Nepalese village, Lhakpa grew up surrounded by the Himalayas but far from privilege. She learned to climb through experience and observation, not formal training programs or sponsorships.

Her first Everest summit came in 2000, launching a journey that would break records. Over the next two decades, she returned again and again to the 29,000-foot peak, each time facing brutal cold, thin air, and the mountain's deadly unpredictability.

But between those climbs, Lhakpa lived a life most record holders never face. She worked at a Connecticut grocery store, stocking shelves and supporting her children as a single mother.

She survived an abusive marriage while continuing to train for expeditions that push human endurance to its limits. The contrast between washing dishes and standing on top of the world reveals how unevenly recognition falls in adventure sports.

Her tenth climb became the subject of "Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa," a documentary that showed her not as a distant hero but as a working mother who kept climbing despite everything. The film captured what drives someone to return to a place where every breath requires effort and one mistake means death.

Why This Inspires

Lhakpa's story shines light on the Sherpa community that makes Himalayan climbing possible. For generations, Sherpa guides have carried equipment, fixed ropes, and led climbers through dangerous terrain while others claimed the glory.

Her record challenges that invisibility. She didn't climb for fame or endorsement deals but because the mountain remains part of who she is.

This year, at an age when most climbers have long retired, Lhakpa is training for her eleventh Everest attempt. For her, the mountain isn't about conquest but continuation.

Her journey proves that the most remarkable achievements often happen in the spaces between headlines, carried by people who simply refuse to stop climbing.