Netflix’s Mountain Queen: Where is Lhakpa Sherpa now? Current whereabouts explored

Lhakpa Sherpa is the subject of the documentary, Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhapka Sherpa on Netflix, due to release on July 31, 2024. The documentary is directed by Lucy Walker, whose prior credits include the Netflix docuseries How to Change Your Mind and the Paramount+ original Bring Your Own Brigade.

Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhapka Sherpa covers the record-breaking mountaineering career of Lhakpa Sherpa, who became the first Nepalese woman to climb Mount Everest in 2000.

She has continued to go on further mountaineering expeditions since then, including a tenth successful expedition to Everest in 2022 that she financed through crowdfunding.

According to her Instagram page, Lhakpa Sherpa is actively promoting the Netflix documentary about her life and has gone on a trip to Denmark in June.

Despite her Nepalese and Sherpa ethnicity, Lhakpa has become a United States resident and works numerous odd jobs, such as at 7-Eleven and Whole Foods, to make ends meet for her family in between her mountaineering exploits. She's also a professional expedition guide for Cloudscape Climbing.

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Mountain Queen Lhakpa Sherpa takes care of her family between her mountaineering expeditions

Lhakpa Sherpa was born in 1973, and for a while kept a low profile among mountaineers despite climbing Mount Everest a record number of times throughout her life.

She was born to a family of 11 children in Makalu, Nepal, and grew up without any formal education.

After her first successful expedition in 2000, she met George Dijmarescu, a Romanian-American climber, who'd go on to become her husband. She and her husband went on Everest expeditions in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006.

The 2004 expedition, or Connecticut Everest, drew media attention after Lhakpa and George got into a physical altercation, which culminated in her allegedly throwing rocks at him and him throwing a punch to her head. This proved to be a warning sign for what turned out to be a toxic and abusive marriage.

In 2008, Llhakpa's marriage was further strained due to that year's financial crisis and George Dijmarescu getting diagnosed with cancer.

Things came to a head in 2012 when Lhakpa's neighbor called the police. George Dijmarescu had become violently abusive towards Lhakpa, beating her to the point that she had to be admitted to the emergency room. For the next eight months, Lhapka and her daughters stayed at a local shelter.

Since then, Lakhpa has been raising them as the sole breadwinner. In between her mountaineering expeditions and working as a guide for Cloudscape Climbing, she makes ends meet by taking on odd jobs at the 7-Eleven or Whole Foods.

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The Mountain Queen, Lhakpa Sherpa has set many records

Lhakpa Sherpa has been a trailblazer in the arena of mountaineering, earning the moniker of 'Mountain Queen.'

When she finished her first expedition to Everest in 2000, she became the first Nepalese woman to successfully climb Mount Everest and make it back alive. Lhakpa's role model, Pasamu Lhamu Sherpa, climbed Everest first but died on the way down.

As of this article's writing, Lhakpa Sherpa also holds the record for the highest number of Everest summits achieved by a woman, with her setting a record of 10 summits in 2022.

Before being featured in Netflix's Mountain Queen, Lhakpa had gotten media attention from several news outlets for the records she'd set while climbing Mount Everest. These included profiles in The New York Times, The Daily Telegraph, and Outside Magazine.

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Lhakpa's story will be told to a new audience in Netflix's Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhapka Sherpa, scheduled to release on July 31st in all regions.