Sherpa Breaks His Own Record By Climbing Everest for 23rd Time

This week, Sherpa Kami Rita broke his own world record for the most Mount Everest summits by scaling the world’s highest peak for the 23rd time.

The 49-year-old made the ascent with other climbers and reached Everest’s 29,035-foot peak safely, according to a Nepalese government official.

Rita, one of many Sherpa guides who aid the hundreds of climbers who head to Nepal each year, first summited Everest in 1994 and has continued doing it nearly every year since.

“It is my profession, but at the same time I am setting a new world record for Nepal too,” Rita told The Associated Press last month.

Two other climbers have ascended to the top of Everest — which is littered with breathing gear from unsuccessful climbs — 21 times apiece, but both of them have retired from climbing.

Following a deadly avalanche at Everest’s base camp in 2015 that killed 19 people, Rita’s family pressured him to quit mountaineering, but he decided against it.

“I know Mount Everest very well, having climbed it 22 times, but at the same time I know I may or may not come back,” he said last month. “I am like a soldier who leaves behind their wives, children and family to battle for the pride of the country.”

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