Mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa has scaled the Everest summit for the 25th time, breaking his own record. Sherpa has exceeded his own record for the most ascents of the world’s highest peak.
Eleven Sherpa guides under the leadership of Kami Rita Sherpa reached the summit about 6 p.m. Friday on May 7, Director of Tourism Department Mira Acharya informed.
They are the first group of climbers to reach the summit this year marking its commercial ascent. They fixed the ropes on the icy route so as to help hundreds of other climbers scale the peak later.
Due to Covid-19 Pandemic, the expedition permit for the Everest was shut last year on its southern side. However, permits were issued this year to 408 foreign mountaineers.
Fifty-one-year-old Sherpa scaled the Everest for the first time in 1994. He has been continuing Everest ascent almost every year since then. He is one of those Sherpa guides whose expertise and skills are necessary to the safety and successful ascent of hundreds of climbers who come to Nepal every year to reach the summit the highest peak in the globe.
Rita has followed footsteps of his father, who was among the first Sherpa guides. Apart from his 25 times to the Everest top, Rita has conquered several other peaks that are among the world’s highest, including K-2, Choyu, Manaslu and Lhotse among others.
He was at Everest Base Camp when the huge 7.8 magnitude jolt shook the whole Nepal in 2015, causing an avalanche at EBC that swept through 19 people to death. Following that tragedy, he came under intense family pressure to quit mountaineering, but in the end decided against it.
Every year in May, there are only a few chances of good weather at the summit during which mountaineers can attempt to scale the Highest peak.