Founder Story

I was born on May 9, 1985, in a remote village in Dolakha, nestled in the eastern Himalayas of Nepal—a true slice of heaven where I spent my childhood. Life in the mountains was beautiful, yet demanding.

I am the second child of Chhauwa Sherpa and Lakpa Diki Sherpa. My father worked in the tourism industry as an expedition cook, while my mother managed our home and tended the fields. Alongside my brothers, Ningma Tsering and Nima Naru, I helped with daily chores. Each day began early—we would feed the cattle, gather firewood, and work the fields before making the hour-long walk to school.

“Life was not easy then,” I often recall, but it taught me resilience and responsibility. During the warmer months, we lived higher up in the mountains. When trekking season ended and farming became difficult due to the cold, we would move to lower-elevation villages to adapt to the changing seasons.

My achievement of summiting Mount Everest earned me the distinction of being the youngest climber to do so, recognized by both the Government of Nepal and Guinness World Records. While my record remains unbroken in Nepal—where climbers under 16 are now no longer permitted to attempt Everest—Jordan Romero of the United States surpassed the Guinness record in 2010 by reaching the summit from Tibet at just 13 years old.

Two decades later, I’ve transitioned into a successful mountaineering entrepreneur, running Sherpa Khangri Outdoors, a trekking company that leads expeditions to 8000-meter peaks both in Nepal and internationally. I also hold a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Wuhan University in China.

My work has taken me across the globe—China, Africa, Iceland, France, the UK, the US, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and more. Along the way, I’ve become fluent in Chinese, English, Hindi, and my native Nepali.
For more information, please visit https://tembatsherisherpa.com.