A Nepali has climbed Mount Everest for the 26th time and surpassed his own record, which was set last year, officials said on Sunday.
Kami Rita Sherpa, 52, climbed the 8,848-meter mountain this Saturday (7th) along the Southeast Ridge Route. He, who works as a Sherpa, as professionals who help foreigners are called in their quest to reach the top of the mountain, was accompanied by ten other guides, according to the German network Deutsche Welle.
“Kami Rita has broken her own record and set a new world record in climbing,” said Taranath Adhikari, director general of the Kathmandu Department of Tourism.
The climbing route used by Kami Rita was started by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and remains the most popular.
This year, Nepal issued 316 permits to climb Everest in the peak season, which runs until May, compared with 408 last year – the highest on record.
Everest has been climbed 10,657 times since its summit was first reached in 1953 from the Nepalese and Tibetan sides. According to a Himalayan database, 311 people have died trying to make the trek.
The most recent death, of Russian climber Pavel Kostrikin, 55, was recorded on Sunday in a camp located at an altitude of about 5,360 meters.
Mountaineering is the main tourist activity in Nepal and an important source of income and employment. The country has eight of the 14 highest mountains in the world.
