Many have heard the names Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the mountaineers from New Zealand and Nepal who in 1953 were the first men to summit Mt. Everest. Climbing enthusiasts will have heard about Japan’s Junko Tabei, who was the first woman to reach the highest point on Earth in 1975.
But less familiar is the remarkable story of trailblazer Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, the first Nepalese woman to summit Everest. Her long journey to the mountaintop in 1993, which included protracted battles against gender discrimination, racism, and political opposition from within her own nation, is the subject of the new documentary “Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest.”