POWER LIFTING

Despite her achievements, elite professional mountaineer DAWA YANGZUM SHERPA was unsatisfied with her life until she found the one thing that raised her spirit as well as her community.

- ALVIN LIM

In the Himalayan village of Phortse, close to 4,000m above sea level, a height that can induce extreme altitude sickness, young Nepalese Sherpas hone their mountaineering skills. During a gruelling two-week course at the Khumbu Climbing Centre, they tie and retie knots until it becomes second nature, so that they can anchor, or haul, or control life-saving rope in freezing conditions. They practise first aid, in case things go wrong and they often do in dangerous environments. They learn map-reading, orienteering and mountain peculiarities before sticking their crampons onto rock and ice.

This is not unusual for Nepalese sherpas, a tribe native to the high-altitude crags of the Asian mountain range and well known for their near-superhuman endurance and climbing prowess. What is unusual is that they are all women - and they are being taught by a woman, Rolex Testimonee Dawa Yangzum Sherpa.

An elite professional mountaineer with multiple accolades to her name, Dawa Yangzum knows what it's like to have a passion but no resources. She was born into a village without running water and electricity and discovered mountaineering when she joined a trekking group crossing the Tashi Lapcha Pass at the tender age of 13. During the hike, she hauled heavy gear through the wind and snow for six days. That was her first taste of the mountains and she was hooked.

BORN TO CLIMB