About Us

Pem Dorjee Sherpa was born in a small village in the Himalayas, while Moni Mulepati is from Kathmandu, Nepal's capital. They met during a mountaineering training course in Langtang, Nepal, and fell in love. However, their relationship was forbidden due to their different castes—Pem is Buddhist, and Moni is Hindu. As Moni’s parents prepared to arrange her marriage, she and Pem joined the Rotaract Club in Kathmandu.
When the Rotary Club proposed an Everest expedition to celebrate the Rotary’s 100-year anniversary, Moni became team leader, with Pem and Kami Sherpa joining. Secretly, Pem and Moni made a plan: if they reached the summit, they would marry there. Moni convinced her parents to let her climb Everest by promising to marry their chosen groom afterward, without revealing her relationship with Pem.
On May 30, 2005, they reached Everest’s summit, exchange wedding vows  at 29,035 feet, and became the first couple to marry at the top of the world, a unique accomplishment.
Beyond mountaineering, Pem has worked to improve life in his home village of Chyangba, organizing projects like dental and eye clinics, building a school, library, and drinking water system. He aims to support other remote villages in Nepal similarly. Pem is a certified trekking and mountaineering guide and a member of several organizations, including the American Mountain Guides Association and the Nepal Mountaineering Association. He also hiked the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail for a Rotary fundraising challenge.