Lakpa Rita Sherpa

Lakpa Rita Sherpa is one of the most well-known and respected mountain guides in the world. Born and raised in the small village of Thame, Lakpa followed his father's footsteps and began his first mountaineering expedition at 18 in 1984. From what started as a job, Lakpa soon realized mountaineering was his true passion. On October 7th, 1990, Lakpa made his first summit of Mt. Everest, and since then, he has made over 17 summits and led 36 expeditions, guiding a record of 254+ climbers to the summit. 

Lakpa moved to the United States in 2000 and worked as a full-time mountain guide worldwide, leading expeditions in Alaska, Antarctica, and South America. In 2009, he became the first Sherpa to climb the seven summits. In 2013, Outside magazine named Lakpa as their “Adventurer of the Year.”

Lakpa has been guiding full-time for over 30 years worldwide with several guiding companies, including America’s top outfitters Alpine Ascent. Between him and his brother Kami Rita Sherpa (world-record holder of highest Everest summits), Lakpa shares a total of 47 summits of Big E alone.

Aconcagua: 62 summits

Amadablam: 2 summits

Barun tshe: 2 summits

Cho-Oyu: 21 summits

Coziyasco: 1 summit

Denali: 3 summits

Elbrus: 2 summits

Everest: 17 summits over 36 expeditions

Kilimanjaro: 6 summits

Pumori: 1 summit

Rainier: 200+ summits

Sishapangma: 1 summit

Vinson, Antartica: 18 summits

Lakpa also guided on other 8000m peaks, including K2, Broad Peak, Annapurna south face, Manaslu, Dhaulagiri, and Makalu.

You can find Lakpa on IG @lrsherpa.