Pem Dorjee, a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer, was born in 1982 in Khumbu, Nepal. He is certified as a trekking and mountaineering guide by the Nepalese Government. He also has memberships of the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA), American Alpine Club, Nepal Mountaineering Association, and Everest Summiteers Association, all of which he is an active member.
This Sherpa holds the record for the fastest ascent from the Everest basecamp to the summit of the mountain. On 21 May 2004 Pem Dorjee Sherpa climbed Mt. Everest, from the basecamp to the summit, in only 8 hours and 10 minutes! When he climbed the mountain again on 30 May 2005, it was with his girlfriend, Moni Mulepati. When they reached the summit they exchanged wedding vows, making them the first ever couple to get married on top of Mt. Everest.
Besides being an outstanding mountaineer, Dorjee works hard on improving the quality of life in his home village, Chayangba. He has organised health care projects and funding for libraries, schools and drinking water systems in his own village but also in other remote villages of Nepal.
He recently hiked 3100 miles from the Mexican border to the Canadian border along the Continental Divide trail as part of the Rotary CDT challenge to raise funds for the building of a continuous trail. Dorjee and his wife own a gift store called ‘The Himalayan Bazaar’.
