KATHMANDU: The mountaineering community gave a hero’s welcome to record-holding woman climber Lhakpa Sherpa at Tribhuvan International Airport on Saturday, following her historic 11th successful summit of Mount Everest.

Crowds of well-wishers, including Fur Gelje Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), and representatives from Sherpa Kiduk Sankhuwasabha, gathered at the airport to honor the woman popularly known as the “mountain queen.”

“I plan to keep climbing Everest for the next ten years,” Lhakpa said upon arrival. “I want to inspire the younger generation to believe that nothing is impossible when you work with determination.”

Her latest ascent, completed on May 17, 2026, adds another milestone to an already legendary career. According to the Department of Tourism, Lhakpa is the first and only woman in the world to scale the world’s highest peak 11 times—a record no other woman has achieved to date.

Born in Makalu VDC, Sankhuwasabha, Lhakpa said before her summit push that she wanted to follow in the footsteps of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary, who first conquered Everest in 1953.

But her motivation goes beyond personal records. “I climb for women’s empowerment,” she said. “I want to inspire today’s youth and women. I also want to prove that Nepali women are hardworking, determined, and capable of anything they set their minds to.”

NMA President Fur Gelje Sherpa praised her achievement, saying, “Lhakpa has made the entire mountaineering industry proud.”

Despite her global fame, Lhakpa lives a humble life in suburban Connecticut, USA, where she works as a dishwasher at a Whole Foods Market in Hartford. She was part of the Seven Summit Adventure Everest expedition for this climb.

Of her 11 summits, eight were achieved via the North Col (Tibetan side). “This was her third ascent from the Nepal side,” confirmed Mingma Gelu Sherpa, managing director of Seven Summit Adventure.

Remarkably, Lhakpa has no formal mountain climbing training. The eldest among 12 siblings, she first climbed Everest from the Nepal side in 2000. “I started working as a porter when I was 15, and that’s when I began climbing peaks,” she previously told reporters.

In an extraordinary display of grit, Lhakpa reportedly scaled Everest just eight months after giving birth to her first daughter—and while she was two months pregnant with her second child. She has also worked at a Seven-Eleven store in the past.