Nepali woman scales Mt Dhaulagiri

MYAGDI, October 1: A Nepali woman mountaineer and 19 other team members have scaled world's eighth tallest peak, Mount Dhaulagiri, at 5:00 this morning. This is the first successful ascent to the Mt Dhaulagiri from a Nepali woman. Purnima Shrestha climbed the 8,167-metre peak located at Dhaulagiri Rural Municipality-4 in Myagdi district.

Shrestha and her team had left for Mt Dhaulagiri on September 18 from Marpha of Mustang district with the management of Seven Summit Trekking Company, Kathmandu. Trekking Company's proprietor Mingma Sherpa said, "This is the first ascent to Mt Dhaulagiri by a Nepali woman. Prior to this, there is no record of Nepali woman climbing to Mt Dhaulagiri before." Sherpa, however, said that it is yet to be confirmed whether Maya Sherpa and other members of the expedition team reached the top of Mt Dhaulagiri.

Purnima, who is a photo journalist by profession, had climbed Mt Annapurna-I on April 16. Likewise, she has already climbed world's tallest peak Mt Everest, Mt Manaslu and Mt Amadablam.