Pemba Sherpa is from the small village of Gonbo, near Ringmo on the 'Jiri to Everest Trek'. He is Gelu Sherpa's brother.

Pemba spent three years studying engineering at a technical institute in Jiri. Afterwards, he worked one year in Salleri, the SoluKhumbu's district headquarters, and then two years in the Okhaldhunga District of Eastern Nepal. He worked on reconstruction projects as an engineering supervisor and rebuilt school buildings etc that were damaged in the earthquake of 1989. When the funding for these projects was over, he began working as a freelance trekking guide. Pemba spent three years 'Tea-House Trekking' then travelled to Saudia Arabia where he worked as a salesman at a grocery store for another three years. He worked trekking again for two years then went to Dubai for three years, this time working as a supervisor at the 'Abudabi Cooperative Supermarket'. He returned to Nepal in the fall of 2003.

Pemba Sherpa's favorite trek is the 'Everest Base Camp Trek' because he "was born in that area... it has the highest mountain on Earth..." He likes trekking everywhere but the Khumbu region is his favorite.

He has been studying how to use computers since returning to Nepal.