Female Sherpas tackle Everest

The Sherpa team have the backing of the king and queen

A team of Sherpa women is planning to climb Mount Everest to prove they are as good as male Nepalese mountaineers.

Only one Nepalese woman has made it to the top

The five women are fed up with cooking, cleaning, tending to yaks and carrying climbing gear, while Sherpa men work as Everest tour guides.

One of the climbers, 33-year-old hotel owner Migma Yangje, said they were tired of being in the shadow of their men.

"We have had many of our men scale the mountain, tell us heroic and tragic tales," she said. "But they have always discouraged us from climbing, telling us we are not good enough to face the harsh conditions on the mountain.

"When I told my children about my mission, my 13-year-old daughter cried all night. But I am doing this for their future and for the women folk of my community."

Royal backing

The team, members of the Nepalese Women Millennium Everest Expedition (NWMEE) plans to scale the mountain along with a dozen Western teams. They left Kathmandu on Saturday and plan to reach the Everest base-camp by 16 April.

The team have left Katmandu

They plan to reach the peak by mid-May.

Only one female Sherpa, Pasang Lhamhu, has climbed the 8,850-metre peak. She travelled with a male team in 1993, but died on the way down.

The five women have only climbed peaks less than 6,000 metres. Everest is 8,848m.

On 7 April they were invited to the Royal Palace where King Birendra and Queen Aishworya wished them success. The Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, has given them a Nepalese flag to hoist on the summit.