Record-setting Nepali climber, who has completed unprecedented double ascent of 8000-metre mountains, claims he was ‘just doing my job’
- Sanu Sherpa the first person to reach summit of world’s 8,000-metre mountains twice
- Nepali guides – usually ethnic Sherpas from the valleys around Everest – are considered the backbone of the climbing industry in the Himalayas
Reaching the top of the world’s 8,000-metre mountains is the ultimate bucket list dream for ambitious climbers, a feat managed by fewer than 50 people, and Sanu Sherpa is the first to do it twice.
The Nepali climber’s summit of Pakistan’s Gasherbrum II (8,035 metres) last month completed his unprecedented double ascent of the eight-thousanders – as the 14 peaks are collectively known.
As usual, he was guiding a paying customer – this time a Japanese climber – to the top.
“What I have done is not something that is impossible,” the 47-year-old told Agence France-Presse. “I was just doing my job.”
Sherpa, who began working in mountaineering as a porter and kitchen aid, climbed his first 8,000-metre peak in 2006 while guiding a South Korean group to the summit of Cho Oyu.
“I felt like the Korean climbers would not be able to summit the mountain, but I had to as I would not get work if I returned unsuccessfully,” he said.