Mingma G: An Inspiring Journey from 4200 Meters to the Summit

Nepal Verified News caught up with Mingma G, a record-smashing mountaineer, to talk about his journey and plans ahead. Excerpts from the interview:  

Let’s start with your childhood….

I was born in the Rolwaling valley (Dolakha), northeast Nepal, at an altitude of 4200 meters, 37 years ago on April 28.
For my studies, I was brought to Kathmandu in 1998 and obtained my bachelor’s degree in Management in 2014.

Walk us through your record-breaking mountaineering journey…..

I started my mountaineering journey back in 2006. Till now (up to 2024), I have scaled 8000-ers 35 times. I am the first climber from Nepal to scale all (14) 8000-ers without (supplemental) oxygen. Talking further about the records, I am one of the leaders of the team that climbed K2 during winter… that was the first winter ascent of the 8,611-meter peak (the second tallest mountain on Earth).

The first successful winter ascent of K2… That was which year….?

That was on January 16, 2021. And it was an all-Nepali team atop, consisting of 10 members.
Now, I am associated with climbing business, not only in Nepal but also in China, the USA, Europe, South America and Antarctica.

A bit about your inspirations too. Are your family members associated with mountaineering?

My father was associated with mountaineering. He worked as a local mountaineering guide from a young age. Dad passed away in 2015. We are six children in the family—three younger sisters, one elder sister, a brother and me. We hold different Guinness world records.

My three younger sisters have climbed Mt Everest. My elder sister plans to scale Everest this May. We all are associated with mountaineering.

We were born on the lap of the mountains, we grew up with them, mountaineering runs in our family.
 

Can you elaborate on the risks associated with climbing, something that you indicated on a social media post on April 3?

There are avalanches, crevasses, rockfalls, technical risks associated with ice and rocks. Climbing is full of risks. You never know when accidents happen, when you fall down….. Even a small mistake can take your life.
 

So many risks associated with climbing…. What keeps you going? You are throwing your life in line, right?

There was a time when I used to climb mountains out of interest. Now it’s my profession.
I run a business and my business is associated with climbing… It’s my profession now.

What are your plans ahead?

No big plans as such. I want to ski on 8000-meter peaks. I have known no Nepali who has done skiing on an 8000-er.
I want to promote heli-skiing in Nepal and paragliding from big mountains. These are some of the plans we are working on. Let’s see how they turn out.

You have seen pollution up in the mountains firsthand, rubbish and all. How does it feel?

Rubbish is everywhere. People risk their lives to go up and there are risks involved in bringing everything down. Also, there’s rubbish in the sea. It’s far easier to remove rubbish from the seas, but it’s still there, right? The mountains are getting rocky now. There’s less and less and less snow every year.
 

Climate change is taking its toll on the mountains, affecting billions of people downstream…..What’s your message to the world as a famous mountaineer?

Global warming is not happening because of Nepal. We are a small country, we don’t have factories and industries as such.

Most of this is coming from developed countries, from big countries in Europe and America with big factories and industries.. Global warming is coming from that side….

They should be more responsible when it comes to curbing arresting climate change and global warming?

Yes, they should be more responsible. They should develop more measures to control global warming. At the same time, we need to have more rules and regulations for systematic climbing practices. The government should be more responsible. The people working on the mountains are from rural areas. Though they are endowed with traditional knowledge, they lack modern knowledge, unlike people from Kathmandu, from developed countries. Good education about rubbish management is necessary and it is necessary to develop develop systematic climbing in Nepal.  If the government makes some efforts toward these ends, it will be easier for us and we will see lots and lots of positive impact within a few years.