Two legendary Nepali Sherpa climbers have etched their names into mountaineering history once again, shattering their own world records for the most successful ascents of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth at 8,849 meters above sea level.
Fifty-six-year-old Kami Rita Sherpa, globally celebrated by the nickname “Everest Man”, notched his 32nd summit of the iconic peak on Sunday while working as a guide for commercial expedition group 14 Peaks Expedition. This achievement extends his unrivaled status as the mountaineer with the most Everest summits in history. Born into a multi-generational climbing family in Nepal’s Solukhumbu district, the region that hosts Mount Everest’s southern approach, Kami Rita first stood atop Everest in 1994. He has returned to the peak almost every year since, even summiting twice in some single climbing seasons. He first claimed the outright world record for most Everest ascents in 2018, when he reached the peak for the 22nd time, breaking a shared record he had held with two other veteran Nepali Sherpa climbers, both of whom have since retired from high-altitude expeditions.
On the exact same day that Kami Rita set his new record, 52-year-old Lakpa Sherpa, known widely as the “Mountain Queen”, also broke her own existing record for the most Everest summits by a female climber, logging her 11th successful ascent of the mountain. Lakpa made history of her own back in 2000, when she became the first Nepali woman to both summit Everest and complete a safe descent back to base camp. Her extraordinary life, which includes her decades of high-altitude climbing and her experience raising children as a single mother, was the focus of a 2023 documentary that shares her “Mountain Queen” nickname.
The record-breaking feats come amid what is already the busiest climbing season in Everest’s modern history. Nepal’s tourism department has issued a record-high number of climbing permits to foreign aspirants hoping to reach the peak this year, totaling almost 500. Unlike foreign climbers, Nepali guide staff do not need individual permits to join expeditions, meaning the total number of people attempting the ascent this year is far higher than the permit count alone.
The busy season has been accompanied by unanticipated disruptions that have raised widespread safety concerns among the climbing community. A large unstable chunk of glacial ice broke off and blocked the traditional route from Nepal’s Base Camp to the upper slopes of the mountain earlier in the season, creating significant delays in opening the route for climbing. Many observers have warned that the combination of delayed route opening and an unprecedented number of climbers could lead to dangerous “traffic jams” in the high-altitude death zone near the summit, where prolonged exposure to low oxygen and freezing temperatures can quickly become fatal.
Nepali official and political leaders have already issued public praise for the two record-setting climbers. Nepal’s Department of Tourism congratulated the pair on their “historic achievement”, and Prime Minister Balendra Shah also shared his congratulations via the social platform X. “Such historic success can only be achieved through unwavering courage, rigorous self-discipline, and honest dedication to one’s work,” Shah wrote of the pair’s accomplishment.