DAWA YANGZUM SHERPA: A TRAILBLAZING NEPALI MOUNTAINEER TEACHING WOMEN TO CLIMB

The Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative is supporting Sherpa guide Dawa Yangzum in her quest to train young local women to become skilled mountaineers

Since 2019, Rolex Testimonee and pioneering mountaineer Dawa Yangzum Sherpa has been running a mountaineering course in an effort to pass on her extensive knowledge and skills to the next generation of aspiring female climbers. The Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative is supporting Dawa Yangzum in her mission, ensuring that groups of young women can continue to travel across Nepal and learn the fundamentals of climbing, from safety, logistics and knot-tying, to map-reading, geology and first aid.

Dawa Yangzum grew up surrounded by Nepal’s iconic mountains, in a rural village 4,200 metres above sea level. Over 70 notable male mountaineers have come from the region, but as a woman, Dawa Yangzum was not expected to follow in their footsteps. However, she defied expectations and in 2012, at just 21 years of age, scaled the highest summit on Earth, Mount Everest.