About Tiger of the Snows Fund
What began with one family in Nepal grew into something much bigger.
Tiger of the Snows Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, grew out of the friendships and connections that renowned mountaineer and founder Mike Hamill built over decades working alongside mountain communities around the world.
Mike has spent much of his career leading climbs and treks on all seven continents and founded Climbing the Seven Summits(CTSS). Through years of working in places including Nepal, Tibet, Tanzania, and beyond, he developed close connections with the local guides, climbing staff, porters, and other workers who make expeditions possible.
Those relationships gave him insights many folks never see: how much local workers contribute to the outdoor tourism industry, and how vulnerable workers and their families can become when injury, death, or limited opportunity changes everything.
The idea for Tiger of the Snows took shape in Nepal after DaRita Sherpa, a 37-year-old guide from Pangboche, died at Camp 2 on Mount Everest in 2013, leaving behind his wife, Nima Doma Sherpa, and their two daughters. Da Rita was not working for CTSS at the time, but was a longtime Sherpa climber and friend of Mike’s from his years working in the Himalayan climbing community.
Yangdi Sherpa with Tiger of the Snows Fund founder Mike Hamill. The Fund has helped support the education of Yangdi’s three daughters following the death of her husband, Nima Tenji Sherpa, on Everest in 2021
HOW IT BEGAN
After DaRita’s death, there was an outpouring of support for his family, particularly to help his daughters continue their education. Like many families whose livelihoods are tied to mountain tourism, losing a loved one also meant losing a source of income, sometimes the sole source of income, and financial stability at an already devastating time.
Across the Himalayan community, climbers, friends, and locals wanted to help DaRita’s family, but there was little unified organization to collect and direct that support. Mike’s close friend Dawa Sonam Sherpa, DaRita’s father-in-law and the girls’ grandfather, was grieving the loss of his son-in-law while also facing the reality that responsibility for their continued education would now fall heavily on the family.
This was a pattern Mike had seen too often throughout his years in the outdoor industry. Mountain workers were injured or killed, families were suddenly left facing enormous financial pressures, and even when people wanted to contribute, there was often no clear or organized way to get that support where it was needed. The need for a more unified way to support these families was clear.
In 2014, Mike founded Tiger of the Snows Fund to organize that support and help the children of Sherpa workers, the workers themselves, and other outdoor tourism families facing similar circumstances.
Although the Fund began within the Sherpa community, the idea was never limited to one family or one place. Through decades of working alongside mountain communities around the world, Mike had seen similar needs elsewhere and had also received an enormous amount from the people and cultures that welcomed him. Tiger of the Snows gave him a way to both address a need he had witnessed repeatedly and give something back to the communities that had given him so much.
More than a decade later, we continue that work across Nepal, Tibet, Tanzania, and beyond. The circumstances may change, but the commitment continues to remain the same: to stay engaged with the people and communities behind the outdoor tourism industry long after the expedition is over.
Mount Everest Camp 2, 2026
2025 Sherpa Team for Climbing the Seven Summits
MIKE HAMILL
Mike Hamill is a six-time Everest summiteer, world-class mountain guide, author, and founder of Climbing the Seven Summits. With more than twenty years in the mountain guiding industry, Mike has led expeditions on all seven continents, completed the Seven Summits circuit six times, written the guidebook Climbing the Seven Summits, and climbed and guided countless other peaks and mountain ranges around the globe.
The mountains are only part of Mike’s story. He has skied to the South Pole, cycled unsupported across the United States, competed nationally as a Nordic skier, and traveled extensively through communities and cultures far beyond the traditional expedition circuit. Those experiences have undoubtedly shaped the way he sees the world and deepened his connection to, and appreciation for, the people in these places.
Through CTSS and a lifetime spent in the mountains, Mike has built his legacy around more than just getting people to summits. He is known, of course, for his depth of experience and leadership, but also for his commitment to uplifting and holistically supporting the climbers, guides, staff, and local communities who make these expeditions possible. For Mike, being part of the climbing community has always carried a responsibility to look after the people within it, not only on the mountain, but when tragedy, injury, or hardship follows them home.
Today, Mike and his wife, Caroline, who co-owns CTSS, are raising two young children, making his connection to families, education, stability, and opportunity even more personal.
At the center of Tiger of the Snows are the friendships Mike has built over decades, the communities that have welcomed him, the families whose lives are deeply connected to the outdoor tourism industry, and the perspective he now brings as a husband and father to a young family of his own. Together, those relationships and experiences continue to ground his work with the Fund and his commitment to giving back to the people who have shaped so much of his life in the mountains.
Mike Hamill on his 6th summit of Mount Everest
WHY THE NAME TIGER OF THE SNOWS?
The term “Tiger of the Snows” became a title bestowed on only the bravest and most capable Sherpa climbers by British mountaineering expeditions when they worked together in the Himalayas. Medals of honor were awarded to a select few Sherpa recognized for their skill, achievement, and bravery in the mountains. Because the origins of the Fund lie within the Sherpa community and the needs faced by mountain workers and their families when a worker was injured or killed, the name felt fitting from the beginning. Today, we use “Tiger of the Snows” more broadly to recognize outdoor tourism workers around the world whose strength, skill, and hard work make extraordinary experiences possible for others.
The name honors the community that inspired the Fund while recognizing the people its work supports.
“Little” Tendi Sherpa, 19x Everest summiteer.
Mike Hamill, Tiger of the Snows Founder, with “Big” Tendi Sherpa, Lam Babu Sherpa, and PaDawa Sherpa
Everest Summit climber with Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa