The Nepal Weekly 
June 4, 2024
“It didn’t make me much excited or happy when I summited the Everest in 14 hour 31 minutes to be the fastest female Everest summiteer. However, I felt happy after returning to the base camp safely. Because it is even more difficult to return to the Base Camp safely than reach the summit as I have already lost lots of energy while making to the top of the world,” Phonjo Lama told the Nepal Weekly during an encounter shortly after returning to Kathmandu completing her successful ascent to the world’s highest peak. Now she is known as the fastest female Everest summiteer.
There was a pleasant smile and a sense of satisfaction in the face of Phunjo when this reporter met her in a coffee shop in Kathmandu.
After starting her ascent from the Base Camp at 3.52 pm on May 22, 2024, she made it to the top of the world at 6.23 am May 23. By doing so she didn’t only break her own record of summiting the Everest in 39 hour and 6 minutes in 2018, but she also beat another fastest Everest summiteer from Hong Kong, Tsang Ying Hung, who set the record of scaling the Everest in 25 hour and 50 minutes.
Phunjo, in her mid – thirties, was not known to the world until she summited the Everest in this Spring and grabbed the title of the fastest female climber, though she had already done many adventurous works in the mountain regions.
When she was herding yak in the Tsun valley in the Himalayas at an early age of 5-6 years with her grand-father, she had never dreamed to reach on the top of the world. “My mother died when I was just two years old and my father passed away at the age of 13, then I grew up with the support of my grand-father, who took me to 5,000 – 6,000 metre above the sea level in the mountains to herd yak,” she recalls.
Phunjo spent her childhood playing with snow and herding yaks and she counts herding around 40 yaks in the mountains until she became 13, after which she went to Kathmandu to accompany her sister, who is a nun in a monastery. But she could not stay in the confinement of strict discipline in the monastery for more than a week.
“Everybody including my teachers, who were on the Everest Base Camp were happy to see me back on the camp after the summit.”
“I prayed for the God and expressed my gratitude to the mountain God for welcoming me for the second time on the Everest,” she replied when asked what thought she had in mind immediately after the summit.
“From the top of the world, I prayed for the wellbeing of the entire humanity and world peace,” she said adding “I would not have accomplished this without the support and blessing from all the people.”
“I reached the Summit with two other senior Nepalese climbers and I was concerned about the safety of three of us at that time,” said Phunjo.
“To become the fastest climber you don’t need to run on the mountain as many people would think and one who can run faster on the ground may not necessarily climb the mountain faster,” was her response when asked how she became the fastest summiteer.
“Unlike on the ground, on mountains, the situation is just reversed. You need to climb slowly but steadily, by preserving lots of energy.”
She was very happy to see many female climbers on the Everest in this Spring. “This time there were altogether seven female climbers including myself on the Everest, which made me very happy, though not all of them succeeded,” remarked Phunjo. “I wish I could see as many women mountaineers as possible.”
There have been huge changes between 2018 and 2024 in the mountains from the view point of climate change, according to Phunjo. “When I first climbed the Everest in 2018 I didn’t notice cracking of ice on the Base Camp. We could sleep well inside the tent without much disturbances. At that time ice cracking sounds could be heard only on the higher camps like camp II or camp IV. But this time I could not sleep well as the ice cracking sound could be heard from the Base Camp as well,” says Phunjo describing about her direct experience regarding the impact of climate change on the mountains.
“Six years ago, we could see some running water while returning after summiting around May 20-22. However, this time, we noticed lots of water due to the melting of ice at around April 16-17 durign the time of acclimatizing on the mountain.” “This shows the danger climbers are facing on the mountains now a days,” she pointed out.
“I am a lucky woman, as I grew up on the mountains playing with the snow in the Tsum valley in Manaslu region on the lap of Ganesh Himal and now I am working in close contact with the nature,” says Phunjo.”
“You have to come closer to the Nature, if you want to live a healthy life,” she added. Phunjo advises young girls and boys studying in schools and colleges travel to the mountain region at least once in a year, to know their own country, culture and the people and to come in contact with the mother Nature, which makes them physically and mentally healthy and happy.
“These days young people are always busy with their mobile phones or laptops eating junk foods without inhaling fresh air, which leads to an unhealthy life. You need to see the mountains, the villages and the forest coming closer to the Nature, so that life will be healthy, enjoyable and beautiful.”
Before joining mountaineering Phunjo received training in mountain rescue. She could jump from a helicopter hundreds of metres above the ground and rescue people who are in trouble during mountain expeditions. But as that didn’t help her earn livelihood, she decided to join the profession of mountain guide. Phunjo also enjoys playing ice skating. She has learnt ice-skating in Switzerland and France, and she frequently travels to USA and European countries during her adventurous journey. She has participated in a number of national and international ice skating competition. She is two time gold medalist in ice-skating.
She first climbed Mt. Denali in Alaska, USA from where she began her journey to the mountaineering. She finally chose mountaineering as her profession with which she is happy and satisfied. As a mountain guide and a climber she wants to serve as many people as possible. She is one of the very few female mountain guides working in Nepal.
“There is lots of scope for female mountain guides these days, as female climbers prefer them so I encourage women to join this profession.” She is now a single mother with her 11 year old daughter and leading a happy life.
