For decades climbing was a male-dominated sport—it still is. But thegender gap is slowly shrinking,andmany women have made significant contributions to the sport.
This year on Everest there aremore women climbers thanusual. Before 2018, of the 4,738 people to have summited Everest, 605 were women—that’s 12 percent.In 2018, there were 61 women climbers on the Nepal side and 49 made it to the top, or 18 percentof the total summitters.
The 2019 records released by the Nepal Department of Tourismshowed that women climbers account for76out of 375 permits(20 percent) issued to foreigners. China had the most women climberswith 20, followed by India (18), Nepal (six), the U.S.(four), and Lebanon, Norway, the U.K., and Greece all with three. Last year, the female summit success percentage was 80 percent,so using the same number, we can predict that we’llsee 61 summits this year, perhaps a record!
Here are some of the women to watch:Americanwas injured in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan, and losther left leg above the knee. As if climbing Everest wasn't difficult enough, Ennis is climbingwith a prosthetic leg.South Africanis making her fourth attempt at the summitand has dedicated her 7 Summits project to building libraries for schools in South Africa.Nima Doma Sherpa and Furdiki Sherpa are seeking to finish the climb to the summit their husbands never did.Furdiki’s husband died while fixing ropes in 2013 and Nima Doma’s husband died in an avalanche near the base camp in 2014. You can follow them at .Finally, professional skier Caroline Gleich, who last year proposed to her boyfriend on top of nearby Choy Oyu, is climbing for gender equality.