“When I was on the first Much Better Adventures trip of the season, one of my trekking clients asked me if I was the only female guide in Nepal,” recalls Tejshree Basnet, with a joking smile.
This was outside of peak-season, Tejshree explains, on the trek to the Annapurna Sanctuary, a remarkable route crossing suspension bridges, wild rivers and huge mountain passes, finishing at the 4,130m (13,549ft) Annapurna Base Camp. The trail is not a short one. It takes 13 nights to complete, yet Basnet’s group didn’t see another woman guide for the entirety of their trek.
In Nepal, just one generation ago, females were expected to be home each and every day.
“I told him there are a few female guides here,” Tejshree continues. “But the ratio compared to the total number is very low. There are a lot less females than men working as a lead guide.”
I ask Tejshree why it’s so rare to see a woman guiding in Nepal.
“Leaving your home for 15 days, that's hard,” she says. “In Nepal, just one generation ago, females were expected to be home each and every day. So getting outside; that is challenging, but I am representing Nepal, and I’m letting people know more about Nepal - that makes me proud. When I’m able to describe to people the beauty of what they see, that really feels good.”
Nepal is a country which for many people is synonymous with mountains and trekking.
Some of the most famous treks in the world run through the mountains here, from the Everest Base Camp trek, leading to the foot of the world’s highest mountain, to the Annapurna Circuit and Sanctuary to the highest trekking peaks on our planet, up above the Langtang Valley.
Tejshree’s journey to become a guide began over a decade ago.
“I’m from Kathmandu,” says the 26-year-old. “It all started when I was in high school and I went on tour to the Annapurna Region. When I went outside one morning, I saw Fishtail Mountain, and it was the first time I saw the mountains so close. I wanted to see the sun rise over them.
“For me, being into nature was like getting a new life.
“I started working from just carrying weight on a one-day hike to working as an assistant guide, and after working for four seasons here, now I have got to work as a lead guide here.”
Trekking is big business in Nepal, responsible for transforming the economies of the Khumbu region, Langtang, Manang and Mustang, which once depended entirely on agriculture.
Tourism itself is the largest industry in the country, with 1.2 million foreign visitors entering Nepal in 2019. A report from the World Travel and Tourism Council states that travel was accountable for 1.19 million jobs in Nepal in 2023, a figure forecast to rise to 1.22 million jobs in 2024.
That includes around 22,000 guiding jobs, 50,000 porters and numerous other roles directly tied to trekking and mountaineering - yet there are still under 1000 women working as professional mountain guides.
I idolised Pasang Lhamu. She still has such a big influence today.
Back in 1991, a population census showed that not only did Nepalese women have a lower life expectancy than men by three years, the literacy rate for women was only 25%, compared to 55% for men, and only 36% of primary school students were girls. It can be assumed these stats would be even lower for women in the mountains due to the lack of development infrastructure.
Women in Nepal would traditionally focus on domestic work and agricultural jobs, the latter seen to be an extension of the household, and it was frowned upon, or even viewed as suspicious, for women to spend even one night away from their home - never mind 14 nights on a trek.
It was against this backdrop that Pasang Lhamu Sherpa made history in 1993, when she became the first Nepali woman to climb Mount Everest. Though she died on the descent when the weather turned, Pasang Lhamu inspired a generation. There is a life size statue of her in downtown Kathmandu, a postage stamp was issued in her name and a mountain was even named after her - Jasamba Himal in the Mahalangur Range becoming Pasang Lhamu Peak.
In 2024, a crater on the Moon’s South Pole was named “Lhamu” in the climber’s honour, and the U.S. embassy in Nepal stated: "Her extraordinary achievement has opened doors for young Nepali women and inspired countless women worldwide to aim for even greater heights."
“I idolised Pasang Lhamu,” says Tejshree. “She still has such a big influence today.”
The path that Pasang Lhamu Sherpa created remained a bumpy one, however. Lhakpa Sherpa - the mountaineer who was immortalised in the documentary ‘Mountain Queen’, as the woman to summit Everest most often (10 times) - still had to cut her hair and put a hat on to look like a boy to get a porter job.
The rise in mountaineering tourism in Nepal brought with it new opportunities. Initially, the involvement of women in such tourism was invisible and unaccounted for, in lodges, teahouses or on farms linked into the trade. Older guides would laugh off the idea that a woman could be a lead guide, but the younger generation were more forward-thinking. In the past two decades, there has been an enormous push by the government and industry to empower women.
“I used to think that this was a very male dominated space,” says Tejshree, “but the training I took, from the Nepal Mountain Academy and the Nepal Tourism Board, was a three-day course for 50 women. I found it very empowering - and basically, that’s why I am here.”
Literacy rates amongst women in Nepal are now up to 64% (though that is still around 18% less than the male equivalent), and as well as guiding, Tejshree has also completed a Masters degree in Economics at Ratna Rajyalaxmi Campus, Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu.
“It’s still challenging, and change is still needed,” she says. “But there are platforms where you can grow.”
When I hear about the past experience of other people, then I can see the change.
The key challenges remain cultural. Himal Pandit works for Freedom Adventures, who run training programmes for woman interested in becoming guides, and who have helped Tejshree progress through her career.
“The trekking industry is dominated by men,” says Himal. “Only 1 in 75 are female mountain guides. It’s the thought-process of our society; oh, you are working in that industry? You are going away from home for 14-15 days, with a big group of unknown people? There are very few women who work as lead guides. Some start their career, but to sustain it and become a lead - very few have done that. But there are opportunities. Now, on an annual basis, the government of Nepal is organising free trekking and guiding training for women.
“I think I’ve had the privilege of training more than 200 female guides,” Pandit continues. “Out of which maybe 25-30 work in the field today. It takes time for people to realise that the opportunity is a good one; not to limit yourself and to have the courage to come up and say ‘I can lead’ - and the trust factor also needs to be there, both with the office and with the family. Tejshree will definitely be a poster girl in Nepal for other girls who want to go on and become guides.”
Tejshree’s family run a homestay in the Kavrepalanchok (Kavre) District. “It’s, like, three hours from Kathmandu,” she says. “So there I got to interact with tourists, and my father was used to seeing guests. When I told him ‘I want to work as a guide’, I actually brought him to the Freedom Adventures office and introduced him to the team members. Then he was like ‘ok, woah - it’s a good one!’”
Basnet admits the move from assistant guide to lead was a big - but manageable - one.
“Being a leader; that gives a sense of responsibility,” she says. “Whenever you’re out trekking you always have to think forward, but when you are a lead guide, you have to think far ahead.”
She is optimistic for the future of women’s mountaineering in this storied country.
“I can see lots of change,” she says. “When the local people see female guides, when we go to the teahouse - a generation ago they would have listened to male guides first but now there is a balance. Also, as a female, we get periods, and we need to dispose of our pads and all. Now you have places that are actually considering that, and making a safe space for that.
“When I hear about the past experience of other people, then I can see the change. Let’s say 10% of guides right now are female and 90% are male. After 10 years that could be 30-50%.”
When I speak to Tejshree, she is in Kathmandu, but is getting ready to head back out to the Annapurna Region to lead another tour the following day. Her eyes light up each time she mentions Pasang Lhamu Sherpa. The statue of that late pioneer of women’s mountaineering, who inspired a generation, will no doubt watch over her with envy and approval as she goes.
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