Nepali mountaineer Kami Rita sets new world record

Nepali mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa on Tuesday summited Mount Everest for a record-breaking 31st time, further extending his own world record for the most successful ascents of the world’s tallest mountain.

According to a report, the 55-year-old climber reached the 8,848-meter (29,029-foot) summit early Tuesday morning.

Widely known as the “Everest Man,' Kami Rita first climbed Everest in 1994. Since then, he has scaled the peak nearly every year, often multiple times per season, and remains an iconic figure in high-altitude mountaineering.

In 2023, he summited the mountain twice, and his closest competitor, fellow Nepali climber Pasang Dawa Sherpa, has reached the summit 29 times. However, Kami Rita has continued to set the pace in what has become one of the most prestigious accomplishments in adventure sports.

Another young Nepali mountaineer, 29-year-old Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa, arrived back in Kathmandu on Tuesday after successfully climbing Mount Everest four times in a span of just 15 days—an extraordinary achievement, with his final summit reached on May 23, according to 8K Expeditions.

On the other hand, Nepal’s Department of Tourism reported that over 500 climbers, along with their Sherpa guides, have reached Everest’s peak this season, taking advantage of short windows of favorable weather since the route officially opened.

Nepal, which is home to eight of the world’s ten highest peaks, remains a global hub for high-altitude adventure tourism. The government has issued more than 1,100 permits to climbers this season, including 458 for Everest alone, earning over USD 5 million in mountaineering royalties.

Earlier this month, British climber Kenton Cool summited Everest for the 19th time, extending his own record for the most ascents by a non-Nepali climber.

Since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa first conquered Everest in 1953, the peak has evolved into both a symbol of human endurance and a key pillar of Nepal’s economy.