British climber sets new record with 19th Everest summit, the most by a non-Sherpa

Kenton Cool broke his own record to climb the world’s highest mountain

A British mountain guide scaled Mount Everest on Sunday for the 19th time, breaking his own record for the most ascents of the world’s highest mountain by a non-Sherpa guide.

Kenton Cool, 51, from southwest England, scaled the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) peak on Sunday along with several other climbers.

He was doing well and on his way down from the summit, said Iswari Paudel of Himalayan Guides Nepal, which equipped his expedition.

Mr Cool first climbed Mount Everest in 2004 and has been doing it almost every year since then.

He was unable to climb Everest in 2014 because the season was cancelled after 16 Sherpa guides were killed in an avalanche, and again in 2015 when an earthquake triggered an avalanche that killed 19 people.

The 2020 climbing season was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kenton Cool at the summit of Mount Everest in 2022 (PA Media)

The record came despite an earlier warning he would never walk again unaided after he shattered both heel bones in a rock-climbing accident in 1996.

Mr Cool previously became the first person to complete the Everest triple crown, scaling Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse in a single push without returning to base camp.

He was also the first British guide to lead a client to the summit of K2, the world’s second tallest mountain.

Hundreds of climbers and their guides are on the mountain during the popular spring climbing season, hoping to scale the world's highest peak.

Many of them have already succeeded while more are expected to make their attempt before the climbing season closes at the end of May.

That is when weather conditions are expected to deteriorate with the coming of the rainy monsoon season, making climbing difficult.

Only Nepali Sherpa guides have scaled the peak more times than Mr Cool.

The highest number of climbs of Mount Everest is 30 times by Nepali Sherpa guide Kami Rita, who is also on the mountain currently and is expected to make the climb in the next few days.