One Team – One Mountain:

Berg Adventures Everest Expedition 2006
Sherpa Climbing Team


Climbing Sirdar: Da Sonam

Da Sonam (Da Sona) is 39 years old from Pangboche.  Married with 4 children.  10 Yaks.  His first expedition was the 1993 Korean Women’s Everest Expedition.  Altogether, he has been on 13 Everest expeditions with 6 summits.  Two times to Manaslu (without the summit)  Twice to Ama Dablam with one summit.  12 summits of Island Peak, 2 times to the top of Mera Peak, 5 summits of Lobuche Peak, twice to the top of Pokalde.

Climbing Sherpa & Guide: Danuru

Danuru (Dawa) is 47 years old from Phortse.  He is married, with three children (the oldest being 13)  His first climbing expedition was to Everest in 1979 on a Yugoslav team which climbed the West Ridge via the Lho La.  Dawa reached 8100 meters in the Horbein Couloir (at age 18)  He has been to Everest 12 or 13 times with 4 summits.  To Cho Oyu’s summit 3 times and to Makalu’s summit once.  He went to Manaslu twice (without the summit) and to Kangchenjunga’s high camp.  Dawa went to the top of Dhalagiri and to many lesser summits, including Kusum Kunguru, Omi Kangre (twice) and many trips up Island Peak, Mera and Machupuchare, Pacharmo, Pokalde, Island Peak (9 times) and Mera (7 times) He has been up Lobuche and Lobuche East.  In the Canadian Rockies, Dawa climbed Robson, Stanley, Rundel, and Athabasca (among others) He has been to England for a month, has made five trips to Canada and has visited the United States and China.  Dawa attended the Khumbu Climbing School three times.

Climbing Sherpa: Arita

Arita is 47 years old from Thame.  He is married with two boys (age 11 and 9)  He has 25 Yaks.  Arita has been to Mount Everest 17 times and has summitted 7 times.  He has climbed on Lhotse and Dhaulagiri as well as Kusum Kunguru without going to the top.  Arita has twice attended the Khumbu Climbing School.

Climbing Sherpa: Ang Namgay

Ang Namgay is 26 years old, from Pangboche.  He is married and runs a farm with 26 yaks where he grows potatoes and buckwheat.  He has been on three Everest expeditions, first as a kitchen boy in 2000, then to the Balcony (twice) in 2005 and finally to the summit in the Spring of 2006.  He worked as a kitchen boy on Ama Dablam, has been to Island Peak and Mera Peak many times and to Lobuche Peak once.  Ang Namgay guided an 8 year old boy to the summit of Island Peak.  He has traveled to Korea and has attended the Khumbu Climbing School (in Phortse) twice.

Climbing Sherpa: Lakpa Chhiri

Lakpa Chhiri (Sonam)  is 32 years old and is from Pangboche.  He is married with two sons (3 years and 6 years old)  He started climbing in 2000 after spending five years as a monk in Thyangboche Monastary.  Sonam went to Mount Everest six times and has been to the summit 3 times.  He has been up to the summit of Cho Oyu once and to the top of Broad Peak as well.  He climbed on K2 in 2004 without reaching the top.  Sonam has been on Ama Dablam five times and has reached the summit twice (as well as a rare summit of a sub-peak there)  He has been up Island Peak somewhere between 10 and 20 times and to the summit of Mera Peak 3 times, Pokalde 3 times, Khumbu Mera 3 times and has attended the Khumbu Climbing School twice

Climbing Sherpa: Pemba Dorjee

Pemba Dorjee is 44 years old, is from Pangboche and has six children (one boy and five girls, they range from 12 to 22 years of age)  He has 2 or 3 yaks.  His first climbing expedition was in 1988 on an American Everest Team.  Altogether he has been to Everest 18 times and to the summit 4 times.  He has been on top of Cho Oyu five times and has been to Ama Dablam three times (without going to the top)  Pemba Dorjee has been up Island Peak 15 or 16 times, Lobuche Peak four times, and has made many trips up Pokalde.  He has traveled as far as Darjeeling.

Climbing Sherpa: Passang Tenzing

Passang Tenzing (Passang) is 29 years old, from Phortse.  He is married and has a son and a daughter.  He has climbed on Everest 7 times and has been to the summit 5 times.  Passang has been up Cho Oyu once, and to Kanchenjunga (no summit) to Ama Dablam’s summit 3 times, Mera Peak’s top twice, Island Peak’s three times and Pokalde’s summit once.  He has journeyed to the UK and hiked in the mountains of Wales.  He attended the Khumbu Climbing School three times and went to the BTTC Electrical School.

Climbing Sherpa & Guide: Mingma Ongel

Mingma Ongel from Phortse, is 29 years old.  He is married and has one son and one daughter.  On his farm, he grows buckwheat and potatoes and has 4 yaks.  His first Everest expedition was in 2000, altogether he has been on five trips to Mount Everest with 3 summits (once via the North Ridge, twice by the SE Ridge)  He has been to Cho Oyu twice and has made the top once.  Mingma has been up Parcharme, Mera and Cholatse.  He has traveled to India and England and has attended the Khumbu Climbing School 3 times.

Climbing Sherpa: Ang Nima a.k.a. The Icefall Doctor

Ang Nima (aka the Icefall Doctor)  is from Dingboche and is 56 years old and is married with six children (three of each)  He grows potatoes and wheat on his farm and has ten yaks and two dzokios.  His first climbing expedition was to Peak 29 with a Japanese team.  He went to Dhalagiri 5 in 1975 and went to Everest in 1975 with Sir Christian Bonnington.  He has lost track of how many times he has been to Mount Everest, but believes it is more than thirty now, he went as high as the Balcony (27,500 ft) in 1992 and has worked on a variety of routes including the West Ridge via the Lho La, the Southwest Face in Winter and the South Pillar Route.  He has been to the summit of Kanguru

Advance Base Camp Cook: Ang Pemba

Ang Pemba is 45 years old, from Khumjung.  He has an 18 year old daughter.  He grows potatoes, buckwheat and radishes and has 2 dzokios.  He has been to Mount Everest seven times, climbing as high as the Balcony.  He was the ABC cook on Cho Oyu and went to Anapurna II twice.  He was on Makalu in 1981 with an Austrian team.  Ang Pemba went to Mera Peak 3 or 4 times, Parcharmo, Lobuche Peak and Baruntse.  He has been to Mount Kailash 8 times,to Lhasa twice and to Dolpa and Jumla.  He attended a one month long trekking and cooking school in Kathmandu.

Climbing Sherpa & Camera Assistant: Kami

Kami is 28 years old and is just newly engaged.  Originally from Okhaydhunga, he moved to Kathmandu in 1997.  Kami works for Peak Promotions and has been associated with National Geographic as well.  Kami went to Mount Everest’s summit four times from the South Side and was unsuccessful on the North Side (Hornbein Couloir)  He climbed Baruntse twice and Lobuche Peak twice as well.  He climbed to CIII on Ama Dablam and has been up Island Peak 15 times.  Additionally, he has climbed Kilimanjaro three times where he made an IMAX movie with David Breashears.  Kami has been to Tibet twice, to India once and to America twice.  He traveled to England and went to Africa twice.  He is a Rotary Club Member and attended the Nepal Videographic and Photographic Institute.  He has worked as a climbing and filming assistant to David Breashears.

Climbing Sherpa & Camera Assistant: Lakpa Gelje

Lakpa Gelje is 37 years old.  He was raised in Tapting but lives in Kathmandu with his wife and two boys, aged 8 and 4.  He has worked as a trekking and mountaineering guide and as a cook.  He has been involved in the making of several IMAX productions and has worked with National Geographic teams.  Lakpa went to Mount Everest 8 times and to the summit twice.  He went to Anapurna I as a cook, to Dhalagiri with a Swedish team and to Cho Oyu twice as a cook..  He has been to Island Peak, to Katjuri and to the summit of Tent Peak.  Lakpa has been to Kilimanjaro five times and worked there with David Breashears.  His travels have taken him to India, to Ladok, Africa and Tibet.

Climbing Sherpa: Dawa Tshering Sherpa

Dawa is from the village of Khunde.  He is 23 years old and is single.  This is his first expedition to Everest.  Last spring he reached the summit of Kangchejunga, the third highest mountain in the world, with a Swiss Expedition.  He has also climbed Ama Dablam.

All Text, Images and Audio Files © Berg Adventures International 2006