KATHMANDU, Nepal — A Nepalese Sherpa has scaled Mount Everest for the 26th time, beating his own previous record set last year, a government official said Sunday.
Kami Rita Sherpa, 52, climbed the 29,000-foot mountain along the traditional Southeast Ridge route on Saturday, leading 10 other Sherpa climbers.
“Kami Rita broke his own record and set a new world record in rock climbing,” said Taranath Adhikari, director-general of the Ministry of Tourism in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
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Kami Rita’s wife, who gave her name Jangmu, said she was happy with her husband’s performance.
The climbing route used by Kami Rita was developed in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa from Nepal, and remains the most popular.
This year, Nepal has issued 316 permits to climb Everest in the peak season, which lasts until May, compared to 408 last year, the highest ever.
The Himalayan nation, which relies heavily on climbers for foreign exchange, has been criticized for allowing overcrowding and multiple climber deaths in the mountains in 2019.
Everest has been climbed 10,657 times since it was first climbed in 1953 – many have been climbed multiple times and 311 people have died so far, according to the Himalayan Database.
