Climbing Everest like you go to get your baguette while jogging on Sunday, this is the unusual life of Nepalese mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa. He indeed reached the summit of the highest and most dangerous mountain in the world for the 29th time on Sunday, breaking his own record for ascents of this snow giant.
Briton Kenton Cool, aged 50, reached the summit of Everest for the 18th time, a record for a foreigner. Also a mountain guide, Cool was told he would no longer be able to walk without crutches after a climbing accident in 1996 that broke both of his heel bones, but his career as a mountaineer defied the odds .
One climb per year or so
A mountain guide for more than twenty years, Kami Rita Sherpa climbed to the summit of Everest, at an altitude of 8,849 meters, for the first time in 1994. It was then for a commercial expedition. Since then, he has climbed the highest mountain in the world almost every year to lead his clients there. We do not know if he was alone or accompanied to beat his record on Sunday.
“Back for a 29th ascent to the summit of the world (…) One man’s work, another man’s, or woman’s, dream,” the 54-year-old mountaineer posted on Instagram during his progress.
In 2023, he climbed to the summit of Everest twice, each time achieving a new record after being caught by another guide, Pasang Dawa Sherpa. Kami Rita Sherpa has in the past assured that he was only “working” and did not have the objective of setting records. The Nepalese has several other peaks over 8,000 meters to his credit, including the K2 in Pakistansecond highest mountain in the world.
600 climbers at the summit in 2023
Nepal has issued 414 permits to climb Everest this year for the spring climbing season, which runs from April to early June. Most climbers set out with a Nepalese guide. More than 800 people are expected to tackle Everest in the coming weeks, after the departure of a first group of Nepalese on Friday.
Eight of the ten highest mountains on the planet are in Nepal, which welcomes hundreds of adventurers every spring, when conditions are more favorable. In 2023, more than 600 climbers reached the summit of Everest, which saw a record number of 18 deaths.