Interview
Meet award-winning trekking guide Phurba Sherpa
Winner of the ‘Walking and Outdoor’ category at Wanderlust’s 2023 World Guide Awards, Phurba talks to us about life on the mountains of Nepal…
What made you want to guide?
I was born and raised in Lukla, in Nepal’s Everest region. For years I’d watched tourists pass through here, then I told my friends that I wanted to try trekking. I had a month’s holiday, so I tried out as a porter with Intrepid in 2012. I was 17 when I started. After six years of working my way up, I began leading trips. It takes a while because there’s a lot of courses you have to take.
It’s tough work being a porter at 17. Was it a shock to begin with?
I come from an area where you grew up carrying things. If you needed to get wood, you’d walk to the jungle to collect it and carry it back. I was used to that, but I’d never had to deal with high altitude before. The local people who live at over 3,000m or 4,000m – they’re used to it. But not me. It’s about experience. If I don’t follow the guidelines, I also get sick. That’s the thing about altitude: it never asks how many times you’ve done this before.
How do you keep up your fitness between trips?
I run. I’ve competed in the Everest Marathon a few times, which starts at over 5,000m. It always takes place on 29 May, the date Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary summited Everest in 1953. My best finish so far is fifth, and I’m planning on doing it again in 2024 to raise money for charity.
What treks do you love doing?
I guide visitors to Everest Base Camp about six times a season. It takes eight days to reach, four days to return, and every time it’s different – the weather, the conditions, but mostly the people. Yes, it’s challenging, but without challenge there’s no added value. I recently guided a 77-year-old woman on this trek. There were no issues along the way and it was just a great experience to help her achieve her dream.
Where would you hike in Nepal if you wanted to avoid the crowds?
It’s quieter in late October and November, as well as during winter, but I’d try the Manaslu Circuit or Base Camp treks. It’s a beautiful, remote area where you can’t get a wifi or phone signal for days; there’s just villages of people getting on with their lives.
How do you prepare on trips?
Every night, when I finish my planning (the water we’ll need, equipment, food, how far we’ll walk), I give my guests different chapters to read about life in Nepal, ranging from education to agriculture. A long time ago, tourists would just come here, take a picture of the mountains and go home. They never used to get what Nepal really is.
What do guests often ask you?
Because I was born in the mountains, people ask me if I’ve climbed over 7,000m or higher. Not yet, I always say, but maybe I’ll do one of the big peaks one day – for the experience.
Phurba Sherpa is a guide for Intrepid Travel