Ang Dorje Sherpa
{{Short description|Nepalese sherpa (born 1970)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox mountaineer
| name = Ang Dorje Sherpa
| image = Ang Dorjee Sherpa.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name =
| main_discipline = Mountaineer
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1970}}
| birth_place = Pangboche, Nepal
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Nepalese
| start_age =
| start_discipline = Porter
| notable_ascents = Everest summit: 24
Cho Oyu summit: 7
Ama Dablam summit: 10
Aconcagua summit: 3
Broad Peak summit: 1
Kilimanjaro summit: 4
Gasherbrum II summit: 1
Makalu summit: 1
| partnerships = Rob Hall
| spouse =
| children = 2
}}
Ang Dorje (Chhuldim){{clarify|what is this?|date=October 2017}} Sherpa (born 1970) is a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineering guide, climber, and porter from Pangboche, Nepal, who has reached the summit of Mount Everest 24 times. He was the climbing Sirdar for Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants expedition to Everest in spring 1996, when a freak storm led to the deaths of eight climbers from several expeditions, considered one of the worst disasters in the history of Everest mountaineering.
Early life
Ang Dorje was born in 1970,{{cite web |url=http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/asia/nepal/mount-everest/Impossible-to-Forget.html |title=Impossible To Forget |publisher=Outside Online |date=August 15, 2006 |accessdate=July 5, 2012 |author=Sohn, Tim|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525073445/http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/asia/nepal/mount-everest/Impossible-to-Forget.html|archive-date=2012-05-25}} in upper Pangboche, Nepal, near the Khumbu Valley as it passes down the slopes of Mount Everest. He grew up among Himalayan climbers; his father, Nima Tenzing Sherpa, was a climber with expeditions led by British mountaineer Chris Bonington in the 1970s and 1980s.{{cite web |url=http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.html?id=e3d30d97-d299-4186-9293-5cd03e02072c&k=11749 |title=A view from the top |publisher=Calgary Herald |date=October 17, 2006 |access-date=July 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108023220/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/story.html?id=e3d30d97-d299-4186-9293-5cd03e02072c&k=11749|archive-date=2015-11-08}}
He followed his father in work with climbing expeditions beginning as a porter at the age of 12. "I always wanted to climb when I was little," Ang Dorje says. He attended private school in Nepal, with assistance from western clients impressed by his work ethic, as he continued his mountaineering work with several expeditions in the Everest area. His efforts were rewarded when in 1992 at the age of 22 he reached the summit of Mount Everest.{{cite web |url=http://www.everestnews.com/angdorje.htm |title=Mt. Everest 2005: Chhuldim Ang Dorje Sherpa aka Ang Dorje Sherpa |publisher=Everest News |access-date=July 5, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130122165340/http://www.everestnews.com/angdorje.htm|archive-date=2013-01-22}}
Sirdar and guiding career
Ang Dorje has led many successful expeditions on Everest, frequently as climbing sirdar for Adventure Consultants, the guiding service founded by Rob Hall. During the disastrous 1996 expedition on Everest,{{cite web |url=http://www.highambitions.net/film/climbers.html |title=High Ambitions in the Himalaya |publisher=BeLegato Productions |year=2006 |accessdate=July 5, 2012}} he and Lhakpa Tshering Sherpa attempted to rescue Hall and others, in the deadly storm conditions that ultimately killed 8 climbers. They ascended 900 vertical meters to just below Everest's South Summit, only to be halted by impenetrable storm conditions just 100 meters from Hall. They waited 45 minutes before being forced back by the storm. Ang Dorje later commented on the incident saying, "It was very sad. Very difficult." The rescue efforts were recounted by Jon Krakauer in his account of the disaster, Into Thin Air.
In addition to his work as climbing sirdar on Everest, Ang Dorje has also worked as a mountain guide on Everest, as well as Aconcagua, Mount Rainier, Kilimanjaro, and Island Peak.
Climbing accomplishments
As of 2025, Ang Dorje had reached the summit of Mount Everest 24 times since 1992 (in both spring and autumn, all via the South Col route), Cho Oyu seven times since 1995, and had also summited Broad Peak (1995), Gasherbrum II (1997) and Ama Dablam (in 1996, via the southwest ridge route)
Personal life
After meeting American computational linguist Michelle Gregory at the southern Everest Base Camp, in 2002 he immigrated to the United States. The couple married a year later. He returns to climb Everest each spring, in part to visit his family. He completed his 19th summit of Everest in 2017.{{cite web |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/jun/05/field-reports-ang-dorjee-returns-15th-mount-everes/ |title=Field reports: Ang Dorje returns from 15th Mount Everest ascent |publisher=Spokane Spokesman-Review |date=June 5, 2011 |access-date=May 14, 2024}} Ang Dorje also works as a wind turbine mechanic at wind farms in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.{{cite web |url=http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/06/07/1974005/richland-man-returns-from-mount.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204223121/http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/06/07/1974005/richland-man-returns-from-mount.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |title=Richland Man Returns From Mount Everest |publisher=Tri-City Herald |date=June 7, 2010 |accessdate=July 5, 2012 |author=O'Neal, Dori }}
Everest summits
- 2025 - 24th summit{{Cite web |title=Experience |url=https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/662bd69c2ead44e08013d9f1c91ed985#data_s=id%3AdataSource_9-185121e2632-layer-6%3A34 |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=experience.arcgis.com}}{{cite web |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/environment/chhuldim-ang-dorjee-scales-everest-for-24th-time |title=Chhuldim Ang Dorjee scales Everest for 24th time |date=2025-05-18 |work=The Himalayan Times |access-date=2025-05-18}}
- 2024 - 23rd summit{{cite web |title=Ang Dorjee Sherpa International Mountain Guide |url=https://adventureconsultants.com/our-guides/ang-dorjee-sherpa |access-date=14 March 2025 |website=Adventure Consultants}}
- 2023 - 22nd summit
- 2021 - 21st summit
- 2019 - 20th summit
- 2017 - 19th summit{{Cite web|url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/35-climbers-scale-mt-everest-summit-bids-underway/|title = 35 more climbers scale Mt Everest as summit bids underway|date = May 16, 2017}}
- 2016 - 18th summit with Adventure Consultants{{Cite web|url=http://www.adventureconsultants.com/adventure/Everestsummitlist/|title = AC Everest Summiters|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042136/http://www.adventureconsultants.com/adventure/Everestsummitlist/|archive-date=2017-12-01}}
- 2013 - 17th summit
- 2008 - 14th summit
- 1992 - 1st summit
See also
References
External links
- [http://scroll.in/article/751975/death-and-survival-on-top-of-the-world-sherpa-guide-recalls-the-tragic-1996-everest-expedition Death and survival on top of the world: Sherpa guide recalls the tragic 1996 Everest expedition]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorje, Ang}}
Category:Sherpa summiters of Mount Everest
Category:Nepalese mountain climbers
Category:People from Solukhumbu District