Nepal’s Kami Rita scales Everest for record 25th time

KATHMANDU: A Sherpa guide scaled Mount Everest for the 25th time on Friday, breaking his own record for the most ascents of the world’s highest peak. Kami Rita and 11 other Sherpa guides reached the summit at about 6pm, tourism department official Mira Acharya said.

They are the first climbers to reach the summit this year and were fixing the ropes on the icy route so that hundreds of other climbers can scale the peak later this month.

Everest was closed to climbing last year on its southern side, which is in Nepal, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Climbing permits were issued this year to 408 foreign climbers. Rita, 51, first scaled Everest in 1994 and has been making the trip nearly every year since then. He is one of many Sherpa guides whose expertise and skills are vital to the safety and success of the hundreds of climbers who head to Nepal each year seeking to stand on top of the 8,848.86m mountain.

In addition to the 25 times he’s reached the top of Everest, Rita has scaled several other peaks that are among the world’s highest, including K2, Cho-Oyu, Manaslu and Lhotse.

He was at Everest’s base camp in 2015 when an avalanche swept through, killing 19 people. After that tragedy, he had come under intense family pressure to quit mountaineering.

Forty-three teams have been permitted to scale Everest during this year’s spring climbing season. Each May, there are usually only a few windows of good weather at the summit during which climbers can attempt to scale the peak.