For decades climbing was a male-dominated sport鈥攊t still is. But the听gender gap is slowly shrinking,听and听many women have made significant contributions to the sport.听
This year on Everest there are听more women climbers than听usual. Before 2018, of the 4,738 people to have summited Everest, 605 were women鈥攖hat鈥檚 12 percent.听In 2018, there were 61 women climbers on the Nepal side and 49 made it to the top, or 18 percent听of the total summitters.
The 2019 records released by the Nepal Department of Tourism听showed that women climbers account for听76听out of 375 permits听(20 percent) issued to foreigners. China had the most women climbers听with 20, followed by India (18), Nepal (six), the U.S.听(four), and Lebanon, Norway, the U.K., and Greece all with three. Last year, the female summit success percentage was 80 percent,听so using the same number, we can predict that we鈥檒l听see 61 summits this year, perhaps a record!
Here are some of the women to watch:听American听听was injured in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan, and lost听her left leg above the knee. As if climbing Everest wasn't difficult enough, Ennis is climbing听with a prosthetic leg.听South African听听is making her fourth attempt at the summit听and has dedicated her 7 Summits project to building libraries for schools in South Africa.听Nima Doma Sherpa and Furdiki Sherpa are seeking to finish the climb to the summit their husbands never did.听Furdiki鈥檚 husband died while fixing ropes in 2013 and Nima Doma鈥檚 husband died in an avalanche near the base camp in 2014. You can follow them at .听Finally, professional skier Caroline Gleich, who last year proposed to her boyfriend on top of nearby Choy Oyu, is climbing for gender equality.听