The International Federation for Sport Climbing (IFSC) changed their rules so that Lama, only 15 years old at the time, could compete in the Senior World Cup.

[4] In 2009, Lama announced his intention to free climb Cerro Torre via the Compressor Route, which means only natural rock and ice formations are used for the ascent of the mountain.

[11][12] Back at base camp the conditions stayed bad and the team had to abandon the endeavor for the 2009/2010 season.

[16] Lama stated that he was not aware of the large number of bolts that were drilled by the film team, but he took full responsibility for the actions and promised not to repeat the mistake.

Peter Ortner [de], a more experienced climber, replaced Steuerer as Lama's climbing partner from this point onward.

On February 12, during a small good weather window, the two climbers managed to reach the summit using some aid techniques.

This ascent raised the morale of the team after the long series of failures and was used for scouting out the free route.

A few days before the planned ascent they got the news that the climbers Jason Kruk and Hayden Kennedy had completed the compressor route, using as few bolts as they could manage.

[11] Since the old bolted route was not climbable anymore by regular means, the film crew had to ascend the summit via the west side of the mountain and rappel down with ropes in order to document the next attempt.

[12][13] On January 19, 2012, Lama and Ortner finished the first free ascent of Cerro Torre via the south-east ridge compressor route in 24 hours in total.

[20][12][21][13] In 2013, National Geographic made David Lama "Adventurer of the Year" for his free ascent of Cerro Torre.

[21][14] In 2015, Lama teamed up with American climber Conrad Anker in order to climb the 6,895 m (22,621 ft) Lunag Ri, one of the highest unclimbed peaks in the Himalayas.

They had to make the decision whether to dig in and wait out another night, at potential temperatures of -40 °C and strong wind, or turn around and descend the mountain.

On November 6, 2016, during the second attempt, Anker had a heart attack at a height of 6,000 metres (20,000 ft) while climbing up the rock crevice.

[28] On 16 April 2019,[31] Lama, along with climbers Jess Roskelley and Hansjörg Auer, was caught in an avalanche on Howse Peak in the Waputik Range of the Canadian Rockies.

[2][32][34] Photographs from Roskelley's phone indicate that the three climbers had reached the summit on Tuesday, 16 April at 12:44 PM.

[33] It can be deduced from a photograph taken from Icefields Parkway by a climber from Canmore that a large cornice broke off above their route.

He reported that the resulting avalanche swept the southeast face at 1:58, 31 minutes after they had reached a steep couloir above a basin to descend their route.

The shallow layer of snow covering the climbers is a further indicator of a cornice break as the cause of the accident.

This shelter, located at an altitude of 5,080 meters in Upper Jaboo, Rolwaling, Nepal, stands as a tribute to Lama's legacy in both the climbing community and his role in bridging cultural and mountaineering ties between the two nations.