Dawa Ongju Sherpa- Nepali: दावा ओङ्जु शेर्पा (born December 17, 1972) is a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer. He has climbed 13 of the 14 highest peaks in the world.

Dawa Ongju Sherpa
Personal information
Born (1972-12-17) 17 December 1972 (age 51)
Makalu, Nepal
NationalityNepalese
Family
SpouseJibu Sherpa
ChildrenLakpa Renji Sherpa, Nang Tenji Sherpa (Sons), Pasang Lhamu Sherpa (Daughter)

Early life

edit

Born in Makalu Village, Sankhuwasabha district, Nepal,[1] Dawa is the fifth child, among seven siblings, from his father Namgyal Sherpa and mother Doma Sherpa. He travelled to Darjeeling, India to work and train at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI Darjeeling) to acquire mountaineering skills to climb the Himalayas and Karakoram.

Mountaineering career

edit

In 2000, he climbed his first eight thousander, Kangchenjunga.[2] He continues to work on his eight thousander mission.

Eight thousanders

edit

Dawa is currently pursuing an ambitious goal of climbing 14 eight thousanders at a speed record. He kicked off this initiative with Pasdawa Sherpa and Kristin Harila in April 2022 and had the aim of completing it by May 2023, climbing six peaks (Annapurna[3] (April 28, 2022), Dhaulagiri (May 8, 2022), Kangchenjunga (May 14, 2022), Everest (May 22, 2022), Lhotse (May 22, 2022) and Makalu (May 27, 2022) in just 29 days,[4] thereby setting the record of fastest climb.

He climbed additional peaks in Pakistan and again in Nepal: Nanga Parbat[5] (July 1, 2022), K2[6] (July 22, 2022), Broad Peak (July 28, 2022), Gasherbrum II (August 8, 2022), Gasherbrum I (August 11, 2022) and Manaslu on September 22, 2022, but abruptly stopped leaving Shishapangma and Cho Oyu still waiting to be climbed. Dawa is determined to complete his 14 eight thousanders goal by Spring 2023.

Climbing records

edit
  • Climbed Six 8000ers peaks located within Nepal in a record 29 days[4]
  • “Double Header” Everest Summit to Lhotse Summit[7] - 8hrs 35mins - May 22, 2022

Notable ascents

edit
S.no Name of mountain Number of times Year
1 Mount Everest (8848 m) 7 2004, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2021, 2022, 2024
2 K2 (8611 m) 1 2022
3 Kangchenjunga (8586 m) 6 2000, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2019, 2022
4 Lhotse (8516 m) 2 2012, 2022
5 Makalu (8463 m) 2 2011, 2022
6 Cho Oyu (8201 m) 1 2000
7 Dhaulagiri (8167 m) 2 2009, 2022
8 Manaslu (8163 m) 5 2008, 2021, 2022, 2023
9 Nanga Parbat (8125 m) 2 2009, 2022
10 Annapurna I (8091 m) 3 2010, 2021, 2022
11 Gasherbrum I (8068 m) 4 2005, 2008, 2009, 2022
12 Broad Peak (8047 m) 2 2003, 2022
13 Gasherbrum II (8035 m) 3 2003, 2005, 2022
14 Shishapangma (8027 m) -- --
15 Ama Dablam (6812 m) 4 2006, 2007, 2008, 2024

References

edit
  1. ^ "Mt. Everest 2005: 48 summit Everest including 5 women from the south side: Summits May 30, 2005". EverestNews.com. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  2. ^ "DawaOngju Sherpa". 8kexpeditions.com. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Annapurna Summits". ExplorersWeb.com. 28 April 2022. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Six peak ascends in 29 days". ExplorersWeb.com. 27 May 2022. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Nanga Parbat Summits". ExplorersWeb.com. July 2022. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Multiple Summit Reported on K2". MtEverestToday.com. 22 July 2022. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Record breaking ascents Everest-Lhotse". Base-Mag.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.