The Sherpa people of Nepal have always believed that the
Himalayan mountains where they live are also the homes of their gods and
goddesses. It used to be that they considered it blashphemy even to
climb on the mountains. That all changed when Norgay Tenzing became the
first Sherpa to reach the top of Everest in 1953 along with Sir Edmund
Hillary. Since then Sherpa men have been involved in many of the
record-breaking expeditions to scale the world's highest peaks - either
with western climbing teams or on their own. Their agility and sheer
hardiness in some of the world's most dangerous terrain has earned them
the name of Tigers of the Snow. Sherpa women, on the other hand, have
been expected to stick to their more traditional roles, looking after
the family, fields and livestock. But in 1993 Pasang Lhamu Sherpa broke
the mould to become the first Sherpa woman to stand on top of the world
and summit Everest or Chomolungma as the mountain is known in the Sherpa
language. Pemba Doma Sherpa followed in Pasang's footsteps and became
the third woman to scale Everest in 2000, she now runs a tourist lodge
in the Khumbu Valley. Hemlata Rai went to hear Pemba speak about her
achievements - and she also caught up with a group of British trekkers
about to set out on a once in a lifetime trek in the Himalayas.