{"id":58046,"date":"2022-12-01T15:01:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?p=58046"},"modified":"2024-09-18T16:21:11","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T06:21:11","slug":"intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/","title":{"rendered":"Intrepid leader Phurba Sherpa on mountains, mindset and creating memorable moments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tackle Everest Base Camp, or the Annapurna Ranges, and you may well find yourself following \u2013 quite literally \u2013 in the footsteps of Phurba Sherpa. This is a busy time of year for the 27-year-old Intrepid leader, but on a rare day off in Kathmandu, he set aside some time to chat about mountains, tourism and why he\u2019ll never get bored of guiding.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phurba admits, at the start of our conversation, that it has been a really hectic season. He\u2019s coming to the end of a four-day rest period and will meet his next group tomorrow. From Kathmandu, they\u2019ll travel to Lukla \u2013 the gateway to Everest<\/a> \u2013 before commencing the twelve-day return trek to Base Camp. \u201cIt\u2019s very, very busy, with back-to-back trips,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I\u2019m very happy to be guiding again. It\u2019s been a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Phurba began working with Intrepid a decade ago as a 17-year-old porter. He was promoted to an assistant guide in 2016 and it took another two years of training \u2013 much of it in the mountains \u2013 to become a full-blown leader. He explains that the team will often promote from porter to assistant guide, and assistant guide to leader, \u201cBecause we need people with a good level of English as well as the experience in the mountains. It\u2019s difficult to find someone with both.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phurba has worked incredibly hard to get where he is, but like many others, his guiding career was put on hold when Nepal\u2019s tourism industry ground to a halt during the pandemic. \u201cThere were no tourists, so I returned to Lukla, my village, to help my family with farming,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There may not have been any tourists to guide, but Phurba still managed to keep his mountain skills sharp, clocking up five to ten kilometres of trail-running most days, despite Lukla\u2019s high elevation (2860 metres). These weren\u2019t light jogs either; Phurba has competed in the Everest Marathon \u2013 from Base Camp to Namche Bazaar \u2013 three times now, placing fifth in both the 2016 and 2018 editions of the legendary race. At this point, he\u2019s more Himalayan tahr (a kind of mountain goat) than human, which is helpful when you\u2019re paid to lead treks to the world\u2019s highest peaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a Sherpa, I was born and raised in the mountains,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve grown up seeing lots of foreigners and trekkers. There are so many mountains and waterfalls and jungles, and I feel truly blessed and proud to share these moments and experiences with travellers. I want to give them a once-in-a-life experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that travellers have returned to the Himalaya, once-in-a-lifetime experiences are exactly what Phurba is facilitating. He recalls a 77-year-old woman \u2013 \u201cMiss Fiona\u201d \u2013 who recently travelled with him to Base Camp. \u201cI felt so happy to see her complete the trip without any problems. No headaches, no issues at all. It was a great achievement for her and for me as well. I loved playing a part in making her dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It isn\u2019t just the travellers who benefit from being in the mountains; for Phurba, the imposing peaks at the roof of the world inspire his own growth. \u201cI feel empowered when I\u2019m in the Himalaya,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I\u2019m exposing myself, facing my fear and accepting challenges while ensuring safety for everyone. I\u2019ve learned so many things and my communication and language skills are improving and growing on every trip. I learn more every trip because of the different languages and backgrounds and cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s this constant learning, and the ever-changing nature of the Himalaya, that motivates Phurba to continue exploring the mountains. \u201cI never get bored of nature,\u201d he says. \u201cEven on the same trek, the weather and scenery will be changing and there will be new people every time. I\u2019m always learning and never bored.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He is, however, philosophical about his future. Given his age, there should be lots of mountain trips remaining, but life, he points out, often has other plans. \u201cWhen I was young, I told my teacher I wanted to be a doctor or pilot or in the army. But life takes a different way. I am very happy now, but you never know what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s fitting, then, that Phurba sees the destination \u2013 in this case, Base Camp \u2013 as being secondary to the journey. \u201cOn the very first day of a trip, I explain that the trek isn\u2019t just about reaching the destination. It\u2019s more about creating good moments and memories along the way. In the evening, we congratulate each other and spend time learning about culture, religion and Nepal. We want to make sure visitors know Nepal<\/a> is more than mountains. And Base Camp, it isn\u2019t about being healthy or young; in the end, it\u2019s a positive mindset that makes you a success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has Phurba Sherpa inspired you to take on a mountain? Take the first step by checking out our Everest Base Camp<\/a> and Annapurna treks<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tackle Everest Base Camp, or the Annapurna Ranges, and you may well find yourself following \u2013 quite literally \u2013 in the footsteps of Phurba Sherpa. This is a busy time…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16149,"featured_media":58054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3108],"tags":[1183,877,180,304,2402,4,3052],"class_list":["post-58046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-good-stories","tag-active-adventures","tag-annapurna","tag-asia","tag-everest-base-camp","tag-hiking-and-trekking","tag-nepal","tag-walking-trekking","ipf_theme-active-adventures","ipf_theme-walking-trekking","ipf_region-nepal"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMeet the Intrepid leader who's most at home in Nepal's mountains<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Climb one of Nepal's epic mountains and you may well find yourself following in the footsteps of Phurba Sherpa.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Intrepid leader Phurba Sherpa on mountains, mindset and creating memorable moments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tackle Everest Base Camp, or the Annapurna Ranges, and you may well find yourself following \u2013 quite literally \u2013 in the footsteps of Phurba Sherpa.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Good Times by Intrepid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intrepidtravel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-01T04:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-18T06:21:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Prayer-wheels.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Patrick Boxall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Intrepid leader Phurba Sherpa on mountains, mindset and creating memorable moments\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Tackle Everest Base Camp, or the Annapurna Ranges, and you may well find yourself following \u2013 quite literally \u2013 in the footsteps of Phurba Sherpa.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Intrepid_Travel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Intrepid_Travel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Patrick Boxall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/\",\"name\":\"Meet the Intrepid leader who's most at home in Nepal's mountains\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Prayer-wheels.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-01T04:01:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-18T06:21:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/272fcc46e713c78bd2623888c9f05d12\"},\"description\":\"Climb one of Nepal's epic mountains and you may well find yourself following in the footsteps of Phurba Sherpa.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Prayer-wheels.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Prayer-wheels.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"A man wearing a red t shirt turns prayer wheels in Nepal\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Intrepid leader Phurba Sherpa on mountains, mindset and creating memorable moments\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/\",\"name\":\"The Good Times by Intrepid\",\"description\":\"adventure news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/272fcc46e713c78bd2623888c9f05d12\",\"name\":\"Patrick Boxall\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed66e90ec6821ba394c675a6ad0f8cfcd64b44a498520092e48041c156f68fcf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed66e90ec6821ba394c675a6ad0f8cfcd64b44a498520092e48041c156f68fcf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Patrick Boxall\"},\"description\":\"My first word was \u2018No\u2019 and I\u2019ve spent the majority of my life attempting to remedy that attitude. When I\u2019m not writing I\u2019m walking, be it across countries, through mountains or to my local pub, taking curious baby steps to wherever it is I\u2019m going.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/author\/patrick-boxall\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meet the Intrepid leader who's most at home in Nepal's mountains","description":"Climb one of Nepal's epic mountains and you may well find yourself following in the footsteps of Phurba Sherpa.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Intrepid leader Phurba Sherpa on mountains, mindset and creating memorable moments","og_description":"Tackle Everest Base Camp, or the Annapurna Ranges, and you may well find yourself following \u2013 quite literally \u2013 in the footsteps of Phurba Sherpa.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/","og_site_name":"The Good Times by Intrepid","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intrepidtravel\/","article_published_time":"2022-12-01T04:01:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-09-18T06:21:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Prayer-wheels.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Patrick Boxall","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Intrepid leader Phurba Sherpa on mountains, mindset and creating memorable moments","twitter_description":"Tackle Everest Base Camp, or the Annapurna Ranges, and you may well find yourself following \u2013 quite literally \u2013 in the footsteps of Phurba Sherpa.","twitter_creator":"@Intrepid_Travel","twitter_site":"@Intrepid_Travel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Patrick Boxall","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/","name":"Meet the Intrepid leader who's most at home in Nepal's mountains","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Prayer-wheels.jpg","datePublished":"2022-12-01T04:01:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-18T06:21:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/272fcc46e713c78bd2623888c9f05d12"},"description":"Climb one of Nepal's epic mountains and you may well find yourself following in the footsteps of Phurba Sherpa.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Prayer-wheels.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Prayer-wheels.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"caption":"A man wearing a red t shirt turns prayer wheels in Nepal"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/intrepid-leader-phurba-sherpa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Intrepid leader Phurba Sherpa on mountains, mindset and creating memorable moments"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/","name":"The Good Times by Intrepid","description":"adventure news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/272fcc46e713c78bd2623888c9f05d12","name":"Patrick Boxall","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed66e90ec6821ba394c675a6ad0f8cfcd64b44a498520092e48041c156f68fcf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed66e90ec6821ba394c675a6ad0f8cfcd64b44a498520092e48041c156f68fcf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Patrick Boxall"},"description":"My first word was \u2018No\u2019 and I\u2019ve spent the majority of my life attempting to remedy that attitude. When I\u2019m not writing I\u2019m walking, be it across countries, through mountains or to my local pub, taking curious baby steps to wherever it is I\u2019m going.","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/author\/patrick-boxall\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Prayer-wheels.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4OQMK-f6e","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58046"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76372,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58046\/revisions\/76372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}