(l-r) Maya Sherpa, Pasang Lhamu Sherpa and Dawa Yangzum Sherpa are part of the K2 Women for Change Expedition. Photo: Dawa Yangzum Sherpa

Three Nepali women climbers on Saturday became one of few women to have summited K2, which at 8,611m is the second highest mountain in the world.

Maya Sherpa, Dawa Yangzum Sherpa and Pasang Lhamu Sherpa are part of the K2 Women for Change Expedition which is regarded as much more difficult than Mt Everest. The mountain, which is on the Pakistan-China border has killed one in every four people trying to climb it. Of the 86 who have died on the mountain, six are Nepalis.

The expedition was designed to raise international awareness about the impact of climate change on the Himalaya and was supported by the Himalayan Women Welfare Society, Kathmandu-based ICIMOD, Sherpa Adventure Gear,  Nepal Mountaineering Association, Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal  and Cho-Oyu Expeditions among others.

Team leader Maya Sherpa has climbed Mt Everest twice from the north and south, and is the first Nepali woman to climb many Himalayan peaks, including Lhotse and Cho Oyu. Pasang Lhamu Sherpa has 13 years of experience in mountaineering and was the first Nepali woman to climb Nangpai Gosum (7,321m) and is also the first Nepali female mountaineering instructor. Dawa Yangzum Sherpa is from Beding in Rolwaling, has climbed Mt Everest and has won medals in several Himalayan long-distance runs.

This year marks the 60^th anniversary of the first ascent of K2 by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio on 31 July, 1954. Nearly 350 people have climbed the mountain, and 84 have been killed.  Only Annapurna I has a higher fatality rate among Himalayan peaks.

Two Nepali guides, Chhiring Dorje Sherpa and Pasang Lama were involved in a dramatic rescue on the mountain in and are the subject of the book, Buried in the Sky by Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Pandoan about the death in 2008 of 11 climbers on the mountain.