Climbing Everest, Cheating Death: Extraordinary ‘Mountain Queen’ Lhakpa Sherpa Emerges In Lucy Walker’s Netflix Documentary
deadline.comTwo-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Lucy Walker shares a name with a 19th century alpinist, the first woman to summit the Matterhorn, in 1871, and the Eiger, in 1864 (feats she accomplished in a full-length dress — traditional women’s attire in the Victorian era).
In her new documentary, Walker tells the story of a present-day climber, Lhakpa Sherpa, a native of Nepal who has written her name into the mountaineering record books: Lhakpa has summited Mt.
Everest an astounding 10 times, more than any other woman. On the heels (or crampons) of a theatrical run that qualifies it for Oscar consideration, Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa debuts on Netflix today. “Anyone who sees the movie can imagine how much I wanted to do justice to Lhakpa’s story and her whole family,” Walker explained at a recent Q&A at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences in Los Angeles. “I felt like if ever someone deserved having the best documentary made about them, it’s Lhakpa.” What’s remarkable about Lhakpa is not only what she has accomplished as a climber, but the obstacles she overcame to fulfill her dream of ascending the world’s tallest mountain.
In the patriarchal culture of Nepal, girls like her were denied an education; instead of getting her own chance to study, Lhakpa strapped her younger brother to her back and toted him off to class. “Two hours to school there and back every single day,” Walker tells Deadline. “She says that she’s a ‘very good yellow school bus,’ but she didn’t get an education.
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