In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa became the first people to visit the summit of Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest). Men dominated the expeditions that followed in the decades thereafter. Things began to change when Japan’s Junko Tabei became the first woman to ascend in 1975. However it was not until 1993 that Pasang Lhamu Sherpa became the first Nepali woman to summit. The first all- female-Nepali team, "Millennium Everest Expedition," was assembled in 2000 and included four Sherpa women. Its leader, Lhakpa Doma Sherpa, was the only successfully summitter. She went on to capture the record for successful summit attempts by a woman (foreigners included) when she ascended Sagarmatha for the sixth time in 2007. To date, seven-Nepali woman (The late Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, Lhakpa Doma Sherpa, the late Pemba Doma Sherpa, Ming Kipa Sherpa, Moni Mulepati Sherpa, Maya Sherpa, and Pasang Lhamu Sherpa) have accomplished the feat.

In spite of these accomplishments, only a limited number of Nepali woman have access to the sport and the opportunities that come with it. This is why it our pleasure to introduce FIWSE, the First Inclusive Women’s Sagarmatha (Everest) Expedition.

In the spring of 2008, 10 women, representing the full spectrum of Nepal’s castes and ethnicities, will attempt the summit of Mt. Everest. This will be the largest female expedition to date, as FIWSE will employ women during all stages of the expedition from coordination, to cooks, to mule drivers, to support staff. These women, supported and encouraged by Pemba Dorje Sherpa, who has the Speed World Record for Mt. Everest, have undertaken this tremendous task to promote women’s empowerment and open-up mountaineering to all Nepalis no matter what background or gender.