Sherpa Kami Rita climbs Everest for the 27th time, a new record

2023-05-17 07:23:00

At 53, the Nepalese mountaineer has just reached the roof of the world this Wednesday for the 27^e times, a performance hitherto never achieved.

By NJ with AFP

Kami Rita Sherpa, in 2021, in one of the Mount Everest camps.
© PRAKASH MATTHEMA / AFP

Published on 05/17/2023 at 07:23

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Kfriend Rita Sherpa has just set a new world record. On Wednesday May 17, the Nepalese mountaineer climbed Mount Everest for the 27^e times, said the organizer of his expedition. “He successfully reached the summit this morning while guiding a Vietnamese mountaineer,” said Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks.

Nicknamed “the man of Everest”, Kami Rita Sherpa held this record since his 22^e ascension, in 2018, beating a previous record that he shared with two other Sherpas, both retired. Last Sunday, he was joined by another mountaineer, Pasang Dawa Sherpa, 46, who had reached the roof of the world for the 26^e time.

READ ALSOOn Everest, the excesses of “altitude tourism”“These records were not set with the intention of achieving them, but as part of my job as a guide,” he said in April as he made his way to base camp. At 53, he has been a guide for more than 20 years and has climbed Everest almost every year since his first ascent in 1994. He even led the first team of rope access technicians on several occasions to open the way to the summit, located at 8,848 meters above sea level.

Nepal, the nerve center of mountaineering

Kami Rita Sherpa was born in 1970 in Thame, a village in the Himalayas renowned for being a breeding ground for talented mountaineers. Nepalese guides, usually Sherpas hailing from the valleys surrounding Everest, are considered the mainstays of the mountaineering industry in the Himalayas. They take enormous risks to transport equipment and food, fix ropes and repair ladders.

READ ALSOFrom special forces to the peaks of the Himalayas: the crazy story of Nirmal PurjaAnd for good reason, the country is home to eight of the ten highest peaks in the world and welcomes hundreds of climbers each spring, when the temperatures are warmer and the winds generally calm.

This year, the authorities issued 478 climbing permits to foreign mountaineers.