Now, the story of Pasang Lhamu Sherpa and the influence she had on so many people, especially young Nepali women, is set to be told in a forthcoming documentary, The Glass Ceiling, directed by Svendsen and produced by Alison Levine, an American climber who herself reached the summit of Everest and who led the first US Women’s Everest Expedition in 2002.
Pasang Lhamu Sherpa was born in 1961 in Lukla, a small town in eastern Nepal that is close to Everest base camp.
In doing so, Pasang Lhamu Sherpa inspired many thousands of young women across Nepal and beyond, even though she died on the descent, aged just 32.
“That was the most important thing to her – climbing,” said Dorjee Sherpa, Svendsen’s brother-in-law and the brother of Pasang Lhamu Sherpa.