Nepal’s Sherpa climbs Everest for 29th time

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Kami Rita Sherpa also known as ‘Everest Man’ on Sunday morning broke his record by climbing the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest for the 29th time.

The 54-year-old Sherpa climber and guide in the last spring season had climbed the 8848.86 meters tall highest peak two times within a week setting a record for the 28th summit. But the climber has hinted at his plans to climb the peak twice this time again.

Before the summit, Kami Rita had stated that he “has no plan of climbing Sagarmatha (Nepalese name for Mount Everest) for any specified number of times.”

As per the officials from the Department of Tourism, the record-setting climber reached the summit of Everest at 7:25 AM (NST) on Sunday while guiding an expedition organised by the ‘Seven Summit Treks’.

“Congratulations to Kami Rita Sherpa @kamiritasherpa a senior guide at Seven Summit Treks for the 29th successful ascent of Mt Everest this morning at 7:25 AM, 12 May 2024. This ascent earns Kami Rita the title of ‘Most Successful Ascent of Mt. Everest by an Individual,’” the Seven Summit Treks shared in an Instagram post on Sunday morning breaking the news about the successful summit.

Sherpa at the end of May had begun his expedition from Kathmandu

accompanying a mountaineering expedition team comprising about 28 climbers. Kami Rita has been climbing Sagarmatha as a guide for the climbers.

Kami Rita is a record-setter climber for the highest number of ascents on the world’s tallest peak in the 71-year-long history of Sagarmatha climbing.

Pasang Dawa Sherpa, also from Solukhumbu, climbed Sagarmatha for the 27th time last year. But, it is not confirmed whether he will be climbing Sagarmatha this time.

He has scaled the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak almost every year since his first successful ascent in 1994, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

“Guess who’s back, back again for the 29th summit to the top of the world... One man’s job, another man/woman’s dream,” Sherpa wrote on Instagram from the Everest base camp last week.

Kami Rita has said in past media interviews that he never set out to break records and that he’s been “just working” all these years. Last year, he climbed Everest twice, reclaiming his record after another Sherpa guide, Pasang Dawa, matched his number of ascents.

The Sherpas’ mountaineering expertise and local knowledge is vital for the safe passage of the hundreds of climbers who ascend Everest every year.