Kami Rita Sherpa climbs Everest for a record 30th time

KATHMANDU, May 24:Kami Rita Sherpa, a Nepali mountaineering legend, achieved a new record by ascending Mount Everest for the 30th time. Khimlal Gautam, the head of the department of tourism's temporary office at Everest base camp, said he reached the summit at 7:49 a.m. on Wednesday.

"Kami Rita Sherpa has set a new record by stepping on the Everest peak for the 30th time," said Gautam, an Everest base camp official. During the ongoing spring climbing season, he has successfully climbed Mt. Everest, breaking his own record.

According to Field Office Chief Gautam, more than 460 climbers and Sherpas have climbed Mount Everest.

Kamirita Kushal, 54, from Thame of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu, is an experienced mountaineer guide. On May 13, 1994, Kamirita, who reached the peak of Mount Everest for the first time, holds the record for the highest peak of the 8,000-meter peak.

Kami Rita Sherpa holds the only record in the 71-year history of Mt. Everest climbing. Pasang Dawa Sherpa of Solukhumbu set  in the spring of last year by ascending Mount Everest 27 times.

This year's ascent began on the 28th of Baisakh. Four hundred and fourteen persons, including 75 women and 339 men from 41 climbing groups, have obtained authorization to climb. It is said that 75 percent of those who obtained authorization completed the ascent successfully.