Nepali sherpa scales Mount Everest for a record 27th time, beating his own record

‘These records were made not with an intention to make them but during my work as a guide’

File: Nepal’s mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa poses for a picture in 2021 (AFP via Getty Images)

A Nepalese sherpa scaled the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, for the 27th time on Wednesday, breaking his own record.

Kami Rita Sherpa, 53, scaled the 8,849m-mountain early in the morning along the traditional southeast ridge route while guiding a foreign climber.

"Yes, Kami Rita climbed Sagarmatha for the 27th time," said Department of Tourism official Bigyan Koirala.

Mr Rita has held the title of most summits since 2018, when he ascended Everest for the 22nd time, passing the previous mark he shared with two other Sherpa climbers.

He scaled Everest for the first time in 1994 while working for a commercial expedition and has climbed it almost every year since then, except in 2014, 2015 and 2020, when climbing was halted for various reasons.

"We're trying to get details. For now, it's 100 per cent confirmed that Kami Rita scaled for the 27th time,” said Thaneswar Guragai, general manager of the Seven Summit Treks, for which Mr Rita works.

Mr Rita was born in Thame village in the Solukhumbu district, which is renowned for being home to successful mountaineers.

A fellow Nepali Sherpa guide Pasang Dawa scaled the peak on Sunday for the 26th time, equalling Mr Rita’s record last year.

Mr Rita’s company said in a statement he had "dedicated his life to mountaineering and has become synonymous with the world's highest peak".

Sherpas are skilled guides who help Everest’s climbers attain their goal of reaching the top of the mountain.

Nepal’s mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa poses with his Guinness World Record certificates (AFP via Getty Images)

"These records were made not with an intention to make them but during my work as a guide," Mr Rita told AFP last month. He has also scaled several other major peaks, including the second-highest mountain in the world K2, Cho-Oyu, Manaslu and Lhotse.

Garrett Madison of the US-based Madison Mountaineering company, who has climbed Everest 12 times, five of them with Mr Rita, described him as a “very strong climber”.

“Very inspirational to see a local climber continue pushing the limits on Mount Everest,” he told Reuters.

The season’s first wave of climbers reached the summit over the weekend as Sherpa guides made paths for the hundreds who will attempt to scale the peak over the remaining days of May.

May is the ideal time to climb Everest since it has clear weather before the monsoon arrives from the south, bringing cloud and snow to the peaks and rain to the lowlands.

The Nepal government has this year issued 478 permits, the most ever, for people to climb Everest compared with the previous record of 408 in 2021.