Nepal’s Phunjo Lama has broken the world record for the fastest ascent of Mount Everest by a woman, completing the climb without stopping to sleep in an astonishing 24 hours and 26 minutes.
Her journey from Everest Base Camp to the summit took 14 hours and 31 minutes, with the descent taking another nine hours and 18 minutes. Lama departed Base Camp at 3:52 p.m. on May 23, reaching the top of the world at 6:23 a.m. the following morning.
Given the limited climbing season and challenging conditions on Mount Everest, climbers have a narrow window to reach the summit. Each year, photos often show long lines of hikers waiting for their chance to make it to the top, with “traffic jams” sometimes lasting for hours.
Climbing overnight allowed Lama to avoid the big crowds. She estimates that between May 21 and 22, there were 6,700 people between Camps Two and Four. On the morning of the 24th, she was behind only “60 or 70” people.
The fastest ascent records are measured from Base Camp due to the need for climbers to acclimate to the extreme altitude. Lama spent three weeks at Base Camp preparing for her record-breaking climb and was joined by her climbing partner, Samantha McMahon, who aims to become the first Australian woman to climb all of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks.
Standing at 8,849 meters (29,032 feet) high, Mount Everest poses a significant challenge to climbers. Lama set her first Everest record in 2018 with a time of 39 hours and six minutes. That record was broken in 2021 by Hong Kong native Ada Tsang, who completed the ascent in 25 hours and 50 minutes. This year marks Lama’s second ascent of Everest.
The current record for the fastest ascent by a male climber is held by Nepali Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, who completed the climb in 10 hours and 56 minutes in 2003.
Despite her achievement, Lama is not focused on chasing records or recognition from Guinness World Records. In fact, someone else contacted the record-keeping company on her behalf in 2018.
Raised in a yak herding community in Nepal’s remote Tsum Valley, Lama lived most of her life at 4,500-5,000 meters above sea level. It wasn’t until she moved to Kathmandu as a teen that she learned to speak Nepali and then English.
“Mountains are my playground and my home,” she tells CNN. “A mountain never says that you are a woman and you are a man. Which is why I like mountains, because a mountain is always equal.”
Lama’s dedication to equality is evident in her work as a mountaineering guide. Currently, her climbing clients are about 75% male and 25% female, but she hopes to see that become fifty-fifty someday. “I’m sure my dream will come true,” she says.
In addition to her Everest feats, Lama has summited Alaska’s Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, and hopes to climb K2 in Pakistan, the world’s second-highest peak.
This year’s climbing season on Everest has seen several changes. For the first time, all climbers were given tracking chips to wear during their trip, making it easier to find and rescue lost climbers. They were also required to save their waste in plastic bags and take it off the mountain to address the significant problem of trash, including human waste, left by the increasing number of Everest climbers.
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