New Delhi: Veteran Nepali mountain climber Kami Rita Sherpa has scaled Mount Everest for the record 32nd time. This extended his own world record for the highest
number of ascents of the world’s tallest mountain.
Officials in Nepal confirmed that Kami Rita reached the 8,849-metre summit on Sunday morning while leading a commercial expedition team. The achievement comes more than three decades after his first Everest summit in 1994, and helped him build a career wherein he is today recognised as one of the most recognisable Sherpa climbers in the Himalayas.
A record-breaking climb yet again
According to Nepal’s Department of Tourism, Kami Rita reached the summit at around 10:12 am local time while guiding climbers with the expedition company 14 Peaks Expedition. He had previously held the record with 31 successful Everest ascents.
Born in Thame village in Nepal’s Solukhumbu district, Kami comes from a village and a family that has always been deeply entrenched with mountain climbing expeditions in the Himalayas. Kami’s father, for example, was among the early professional Sherpa guides after Nepal opened Everest to foreign climbers in the 1950s.
Despite the well-known dangers and extreme weather conditions on Everest, Kami Rita has climbed the peak almost every year since the 1990s, sometimes even summiting twice in a single season. Apart from Everest, he has also climbed several other peaks above 8,000 metres, including K2, Cho Oyu and Lhotse.
Jubilations all around
Kami Rita’s achievement is being widely hailed by many people in the mountain climbing community. Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, who also served as president of the Asian Mountaineering and Climbing Federation said of the feat that, “Kami Rita is not only a strong climber, but he also has good technical skill in the field of mountaineering.” “Without being a strong and dedicated climber, one cannot scale Everest for 32 times,” he further added.
Prime Minister Balen Shah congratulated them and said, “Such historic success can only be achieved through unwavering courage, rigorous self-discipline, and honest dedication to one’s work.”
In a post on X, Shah said, “Mt Everest is not merely a geographical elevation; it is the supreme symbol of Nepal’s self-respect, courage, patience, and Himalayan civilisation. On this glorious mountain today, Nepali climbers have once again written history.” The prime minister lauded the contribution of the Sherpa community to Nepal’s mountaineering history as “extraordinary and unparalleled.”
Calling the Sherpas as “truly the unsung heroes of the Himalayas,” he further said, “Without their courage, knowledge, and labour, the glory of the mountains remains incomplete. I am confident that this supreme achievement of theirs will make Nepal’s mountain tourism even more credible, prestigious, and attractive, while further illuminating Nepal’s identity on the global stage.”
