Kathmandu: An experienced Nepalese Sherpa guide scaled Mt Everest for the 26th time last time, breaking his own record for the most climbs of the world’s highest peak, expedition organisers said last week. Kami Rita reached the 8,849-metre summit on Saturday leading a group of Sherpa climbers who fixed ropes along the route so that hundreds of other climbers and guides can make their way to the top of the mountain later this month.
“Kami Rita has broken his own record and established a new world record in climbing,” said Taranath Adhikari, director general of the department of tourism in capital Kathmandu.
Rita and 10 other Sherpa guides reached the summit without any problems and had safely returned to lower camps, said Mingma Sherpa of the Kathmandu-based Seven Summit Treks. The group reached the summit around 7 pm on Saturday, which by Everest climbing standards is late.
The climbing route used by Kami Rita was pioneered by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepal’s sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and remains the most popular. This year Nepal has issued 316 permits to climb Everest in the peak season, which runs through May, compared with 408 last year, the highest ever. Rita, 52, first scaled Everest in 1994 and has been making the trip nearly every year since then. In addition to Everest, Rita has scaled several other peaks, including K-2, Cho-Oyu, Manaslu and Lhotse.
