The Nepalese Sherpa guide Kami Rita climbed Mount Everest for the 25th time on Friday. With that he broke his own record for the most climbs of the highest peak in the world. After the descent Rita posted a video on Facebook from the moment of happiness on the summit – with the words: «More than excited and happy to be on the summit of Mount Everest for the 25th time. We’re still partying. “
Together with eleven other Sherpas, the 51-year-old reached 8,849 meters above sea level around 6 p.m. – as the first group ever to conquer the summit this year. The Sherpas did not climb for pleasure. They were in the process of fastening ropes on the icy route so that hundreds of paying climbers from all over the world could reach the top of Everest in the next few weeks.
Last year Everest was closed on both the south side in Nepal and the north side in China due to the coronavirus pandemic. This climbing season, Nepal has given 408 foreign mountaineers a permit. The 43 teams are supported by around 400 Nepalese mountain guides. Every May there is usually a short time window with good weather at the summit. During the remaining months, Everest is considered too dangerous even for the best alpinists.
In his father’s footsteps
China has only opened the northern slope for a few dozen of its own mountaineers and wants to draw a corona protective line on the Everest summit to protect its people from a possible Covid infection.
It is unclear whether Sherpa Rita will take part in a paid expedition this season and try to break his new record again. He had conquered his local mountain for the first time in 1994. Since then, he has climbed to the Everest summit almost every year as one of the numerous Sherpa guides, without whose expertise and skills most mountaineers would never be able to climb the Everest summit at these extreme heights.
As a Sherpa, Rita followed in the footsteps of his father, who was one of the very first Sherpa leaders, and in the course of his long career also conquered several other peaks that are among the highest in the world, including the K-2, Manaslu and Lhotse . Rita had also been to Everest base camp in 2015 when an avalanche went off and killed 19 people. Despite urging from his family to give up climbing, the Sherpa continues to follow his calling. (kes)
Published: May 12, 2021, 57 minutes ago
Last updated: May 12, 2021, 12 minutes ago