Southern Utah University was recently named as the top outdoor university in the nation, and now the school will have a world-record holding mountaineer enrolled in the school. Ngim Chhamji Sherpa from Nepal was the youngest woman to ever climb Mt. Everest from the south side at age sixteen in 2012. She was also part of the first father-daughter team to summit the mountain from the southern (Nepali) side of Everest.
Sherpa will be giving a presentation on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 11:30 a.m. in the Sharwan Smith Student Center Living Room. The title of the presentation is “Making it into the Guinness Book of World Records: My journey as the first father/daughter team to summit Mt. Everest.” The presentation is part of the Outdoor Education Series.
Sherpa stated that upon reaching the summit of Everest, “I opened my sunglasses and realized I had finally made it as I looked around and felt on top of the world.”
Sherpa, who is a biology major, is one of 36 students from Nepal who are enrolled at SUU this fall. She discovered SUU while researching schools online.The university’s International Affairs Office assisted Sherpa with the paperwork necessary to enroll.
“When I was researching schools, I found that Utah was a beautiful place and SUU would allow me opportunities to get involved,” Sherpa said.
Vice Provost for International Affairs Stephen Allen said that working with the Nepalese students has been a pleasure. Allen stated that the International Affairs Office has been working hard to recruit students from Nepal since January.
“Since August, I have had a chance to get to know our Nepalese students and have found them to be intelligent, bright and hardworking. Faculty reports that our students from Nepal our well prepared and active learners,” Allen said.
Sherpa is passionate about hiking, climbing and mountaineering, something she says she gets from her father. She plans on discussing his influencing her to undergo the weeks-long adventure to the summit of Everest during her presentation.
For further information, contact Nikki Koontz, assistant director of marketing at SUU, at (435) 586-5487 or nikkikoontz@suu.edu.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Ms. Sherpa’s record of being the youngest female to climb Mt. Everest had been surpassed. While younger women have in fact climbed the mountain, Ms. Sherpa is still the official Guinness Book of World Records holder for youngest female to climb Everest from the south side of the mountain.
Hello Don,
There is a slight error in this article. The record has not been surpassed. Since the record is from the south side, I do still hold the record for the youngest female to summit Everest from the South side. Although there has been few other records from the North side. And it has only been three months that I got my both official Guinness World record title and I have not heard any other news. So, please try to amend it. Thank you!
Really Ngim? You are going to be one of those people…, stick that nose a bit further into the air. Good for you accomplishing what you did, you have an article written about you. Now shut up and go away
Joe, considering the sheer effort made to accomplish what she did, I think she has a right to say what she did. Personally, as a mountaineer myself, I have a lot of admiration for what she has accomplished, and I hope that Sherpa does not feel offense by what you have said. Please don’t judge what “Mr. Cool” has said as indicative of people in Southern Utah. I think it is fantastic that you have elected to further your education here in this part of the world. SUU is a fantastic school, and the outdoor recreational opportunities are virtually unlimited here. Ngim, I will say that I was also going (primarily) from what the press release SUU published said and that it only said that you were the youngest to summit Everest. However, in my research, I did see that younger female climbers have summited Everest in the time since your ascent. I will look into amending the article soon.
Thank you for your words! I just needed a bit change on what was wrong 🙂 I don’t think anyone should have any problem with that! I was surprised to hear the harsh words from one whom I even don’t know. That’s too rude to anyone! I don’t know why that person was so offensive. Anyway, I can see the diverse good and the bad people here! But I am positive about it!
Ngim Chhamji Sherpa
Welcome to Southern Utah! My deceased father reached just over 26,000 feet on Everest, had he summited that year he would have been the oldest man to have reached the summit without oxygen. Please visit us during your stay in Cedar City, Our family owns and operates Georg’s Ski Shop in nearby Brian Head. We would love the opportunity to share your experiences.
Georg Hartlmaier
Thank you Georg! I am hoping to learn skiing soon so, I hope maybe we will get the chance to meet in coming days:) That’s so inspiring about your father! He is a tough person to be on that altitude without oxygen! That’s just incredible and unbelievable for what he attempted! My thoughts are with him..
Ms Sherpa: I have corrected the article.
Great! Thanks 🙂