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Agence France-Presse

A famed Nepali Mount Everest climber nicknamed “snow leopard” for his record of summiting the world’s highest mountain 10 times without bottled oxygen and being the first person to climb the peak 10 times, has died aged 72.
Ang Rita Sherpa’s daughter, Dolma Lhamo, said he died in his sleep on Monday at their home on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
His close friend and Nepal Mountaineering Association president, Ang Tshering Sherpa, said it was a “big loss for the mountaineering community”.
“During his time, he was the strongest climber in the world and a star,” said Ang Tshering.
Mount Everest ‘death zone’ less deadly but more crowded, study finds
Nepal’s tourism department said his contribution to mountaineering “will be always be remembered”.
Ang Rita held the record since 1996 for ascending the 8,848-metre (29,028-foot) Everest the most times without bottled oxygen, following his first ascent in 1983.
He also achieved the first winter summit of Everest without supplementary oxygen in 1987.
Born in the Everest region, Ang Rita was a teenager when he first started working as a porter hired by foreign climbers.
Porters carry their equipment and supplies, dig paths in the snow and ice and help them get to the summit, usually with little recognition.

He quickly rose through the ranks to become a guide – summiting some of Nepal’s highest mountains.
He was among the first Sherpa guides to receive international fame for his accomplishments.
Some 200 mountaineers have climbed Everest without bottled oxygen, according to the authoritative Himalayan Database, but Ang Rita’s record remains.
Kami Rita Sherpa has summited Everest a record 24 times, but mostly with the aid of bottled oxygen.
24 Everest summits and still going strong: record-breaking guide Kami Rita Sherpa
Ang Rita was a national hero but struggled financially and with his health, including liver illness and swelling of the brain. He was in bad health at his home in his mountain village in 1999 when Ang Tshering hired a helicopter and flew him to a hospital in Kathmandu for treatment.
He was hospitalised again for months in 2017 due to continued swelling of the brain. The cause was not disclosed.


Ang Rita is survived by a daughter and two sons.
The body will be placed at a Sherpa Gomba, or holy site, in Kathmandu, and cremated on Wednesday according to Buddhist tradition, Ang Tshering said.
Additional reporting by Associated Press


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Climbing and mountaineering

Nepal’s legendary ‘snow leopard’ Mount Everest climber Ang Rita Sherpa dies

Ang Rita Sherpa held the record for climbing Everest 10 times without bottled oxygen, and also achieved the first winter summit without supplementary oxygen. Photo: Getty

epa08686173 A man lights candles in front of a casket containing the body of Nepalese Mountaineer Ang Rita Sherpa at Sherpa Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, 21 September 2020. Nepalese veteran mountaineer Ang Rita Sherpa, 72, the first man to climb Mount Everest 10 times, died of a lengthy illness on 21 September 2020. Ang Rita holds' two Guinness Book World Records for the 'Most climbs of Everest without supplementary oxygen' and the 'First winter climb of Everest without supplementary oxygen'. Because of his achievement the Nepalese government had given him the honorary title 'Snow Leopard'. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Ang Rita Sherpa, in a 2009 press conference in Kathmandu. The veteran Nepalese Sherpa guide has died after a long illness. Photo: AP

24 Everest summits and still going strong: record-breaking Nepalese mountain guide Kami Rita Sherpa vows to keep climbing

Kami Rita Sherpa celebrates setting a new world record for climbing Mount Everest. Photo: EPA

This handout photo taken on May 15, 2019 and released by Seven Summit Treks shows Nepali mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa posing at the top of Mount Everest after summiting it for the 23rd time, breaking his own world record set last year. - For the hardy few, climbing Everest is a bucket-list feat of endurance, danger and wonder. But Kami Rita Sherpa's 23rd record summit of the world's highest peak on May 15 was just another day at work. (Photo by Handout / Seven Summit Treks / AFP) / -----EDITORS NOTE --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Seven Summit Treks " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Kami Rita with his family at his residence in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo: Omkar Khandekar

epaselect epa07599025 Nepalese veteran mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa is welcomed by his wife after arriving at Kathmandu Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, 25 May 2019. Kami Rita, a professional mountaineer guide has successfully climbed Mount Everest 24 times setting a new world record for climbing Mount Everest. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

This photograph taken on March 28, 2018 shows Nepali mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa spinning prayer wheels at Boudhanath Stupa, where he has a rented room, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. A Nepali Sherpa is hoping to summit Mount Everest for a record-breaking 22nd time next month, during the busy climbing season that each year sees hundreds of climbers reach the top of the world. But to Kami Rita Sherpa, who has worked as a guide on Everest for over two decades, climbing to 8,848 metres (29,029 feet) is a job not a record-shattering feat. / AFP PHOTO / Prakash MATHEMA / TO GO WITH Nepal-Everest-mountaineering-sherpa-record,FOCUS by Annabel SYMINGTON

After Everest avalanche, Sherpas threaten climbing ban unless insurance boosted

A relative of one of the Sherpa's killed in last Friday's avalanche is comforted during Monday's funeral service in Kathmandu. Photo: Reuters

The daughter of one of the avalanche victims is consoled by  a relative during Monday's funeral. Photo: AP

The mother of a Sherpa, who was killed in Friday's avalanche on Mount Everest, weeps at Sherpa Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, as she waits for his body to be brought back. Photo: AP

Since 1953, more than 4,000 climbers have reached the top of Mount Everest, seen here with other peaks of the Himalayas, but hundreds have been killed trying. Photo: Reuters

Family members of the Everest avalanche victims light oil lamps at Sherpa Monastery in Kathmandu. Photo: AFP

Climbing season in disarray as more Sherpas leave Mount Everest base camp

A meeting between a Nepalese government delegation and Sherpa mountain guides takes place near Everest base camp. Photo: AP

Everest's Sherpas climb out of poverty

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Everest

Dawa Finjhok, Sherpa. Photo Courtesy of Dawa Finjhok

This picture taken on May 23, 2010 shows a Nepalese sherpa collecting garbage, left by climbers, at an altitude of 8,000 metres during the Everest clean-up expedition at Mount Everest. A group of 20 Nepalese climbers, including some top summiteers collected 1,800 kilograms of garbage in a high-risk expedition to clean up the world's highest peak. Led by seven-time summiteer Namgyal Sherpa, the team braved thin air and below freezing temperatures to clear around two tonnes of rubbish left behind by mountaineers, that included empty oxygen cylinders and corpses. Since 1953, there have been some 300 deaths on Everest. Many bodies have been brought down, but those above 8,000 metres have generally been left to the elements -- their bodies preserved by the freezing temperatures. The priority of the sherpas had been to clear rubbish just below the summit area, but coordinator Karki said large quantities of refuse was collected from 8,000 meters and below. AFP PHOTO/Namgyal SHERPA (Photo by N

Green Boots is the name given to the unidentified body of this climber, one of 300 who lost their lives on the mountain. Photo: Wikipedia

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He held the record for climbing Everest 10 times without bottled oxygen, and also achieved the first winter summit without supplementary oxygen
Fellow climber Kami Rita Sherpa has summited the world’s highest mountain a record 24 times, but mostly with the aid of bottled oxygen



He held the record for climbing Everest 10 times without bottled oxygen, and also achieved the first winter summit without supplementary oxygen.


Nepal

Nepal’s legendary ‘snow leopard’ Mount Everest climber Ang Rita Sherpa dies

He held the record for climbing Everest 10 times without bottled oxygen, and also achieved the first winter summit without supplementary oxygen Fellow climber Kami Rita Sherpa has summited the world’s highest mountain a record 24 times, but mostly with the aid of bottled oxygen

He held the record for climbing Everest 10 times without bottled oxygen, and also achieved the first winter summit without supplementary oxygen

Fellow climber Kami Rita Sherpa has summited the world’s highest mountain a record 24 times, but mostly with the aid of bottled oxygen