Ang Dorje was born in 1970,[2] in upper Pangboche, Nepal, near the Khumbu Valley as it passes down the slopes of Mount Everest.

[4] Ang Dorje has led many successful expeditions on Everest, frequently as climbing sirdar for Adventure Consultants, the guiding service founded by Rob Hall.

During the disastrous 1996 expedition on Everest,[5] he and Lhakpa Tshering Sherpa attempted to rescue Hall and others, in the deadly storm conditions that ultimately killed 8 climbers.

"[3] The rescue efforts were recounted by Jon Krakauer in his account of the disaster, Into Thin Air.

[6] As of 2024, Ang Dorje had reached the summit of Mount Everest 23 times since 1992[1] (in both spring and autumn, all via the South Col route), Cho Oyu seven times since 1995, and had also summited Broad Peak (1995), Gasherbrum II (1997) and Ama Dablam (in 1996, via the southwest ridge route)[4] After meeting American computational linguist Michelle Gregory at the southern Everest Base Camp, in 2002 he immigrated to the United States.