‘I was just working’: Nepali mountain guide summits Mount Everest for the 23rd and 24th time in the same week
- A Nepali mountain guide who made his 24th Everest summit after guiding a team of Indian police says he was just doing his job
- ‘I did not even know you could set records,’ said Kami Rita Sherpa
On May 15, Nepali mountain guide Kami Rita Sherpa set a record by climbing Mount Everest for the 23rd time. Seven days later, he has broken his own record, expedition organisers said.
“This is historic. He made his record climb this morning, guiding a team of Indian police,” said Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks.
A guide for more than two decades, Sherpa first summited the 8,848m peak, the world’s highest, in 1994 while working for a commercial expedition.
I did not climb for world records, I was just working. I did not even know you could set records.
In the 25 years since, the 49-year-old has made 35 summits on five 8,000-metre peaks, including the world’s second-highest mountain, K2 in Pakistan.
Last year, he ascended Everest for the 22nd time, breaking the previous record of 21 summits he shared with two other Sherpa climbers, both of whom have retired.
Returning last week to a colourful welcome at base camp after his 23rd climb, Sherpa had already said that he wanted to go up for a second time this season.
“I am very happy and proud, I think I might go up the mountain again this season,” he had said over a crackly phone line after his descent.