[5][6] Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa was born in Thame, a village in the Everest region of Nepal, near the Chinese border.

Following his father's death when he was 12 years old, Apa had to take up the responsibilities of his family, consisting of his mother, two sisters and three young brothers.

[7] In December, 2006, the family moved to the United States with the help of his friend Jerry Mika to provide their children a better education and for business opportunities.

[18][19] After climbing Everest 21 times, he retired in 2011 and eventually moved to the Salt Lake City area of Utah but frequently travels to Nepal.

In 2009, he co-founded The Apa Sherpa Foundation, a group striving to provide better education and an improved economy in Nepal.

[23] On his 19th expedition, the team spent half an hour at the top of the mountain, unfurling a banner that said "Stop Climate Change".

[24] The team brought down five tonnes of mountain trash that includes parts of a crashed helicopter, tin cans and climbing material.

[27] The adventurers set out from the shadow of the world's third-highest peak, Mount Kanchenjunga, in the east and finished at Nepal's border with Tibet in the west, 20 days ahead of schedule.

[27] Dawa Steven Sherpa, a member of the expedition who has climbed Everest twice, said the group found mountain communities that rely on subsistence farming were suffering the effects of climate change.