WEST HARTFORD, CT (WTNH/CNN) - A Connecticut woman is set to break her own world record by climbing Mount Everest for a ninth time.
Lhakpa Sherpa wiped away tears as she accepted a proclamation from the mayor of West Hartford, CT.
Next week, she leaves her two daughters behind and flies back to Nepal where she plans to climb Mount Everest for the ninth time.
She said she does not even train for the climbs.
"No, I am working, working, mostly working," Sherpa said.
She’s the picture of humility, washing dishes at Whole Foods to support her daughters 10 months out of the year.
“I work Saturday and Sunday here," she said. "Seven days a week with no breaks."
The other two months, she climbs Mount Everest.
"My first hike, I was 15 years old and I was a porter," Sherpa explained.
She was born and raised in Nepal with her seven sisters and four brothers. Not only does she carry her own gear to the top, she gets paid to carry others' as well.
"I get $5,000 but if I summit, I get a bonus. They pay me $1,000. That means I make $6,000," she explained.
But her climbs are not about the money. In the past, she has placed flags from Yale and the West Hartford Public Library on top of Everest.
"I like to carry many different kinds of flags because I respect them," Sherpa said.
So this year, when she climbs Mount Everest, she is bringing a flag from Whole Foods, as well as a flag from Conard High School where her daughter attends in West Hartford.
She said she will have other flags as well and those flags give her so much power. She said she can literally feel them in her backpack as she's climbing the mountain.
"I feel like, with the flags in my backpack. I feel a special power and a special magic power of me pushing me up to the top," Sherpa said.
But she said when she gets to the top, the view, the air and the cold are like nothing else on earth.
"It looks so beautiful. There is a view every direction. And it feels good," Sherpa said.
She said the hardest part is leaving her two daughters behind because it is a dangerous climb and not everyone comes back.
She is such a return in June.
Sherpa holds the world record for most ascents of Everest by a woman but she has far to go before she can claim the title of most ascents of Everest ever.
That belongs to Apa Sherpa, who has scaled the summit 21 times.
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