Nepali Sherpa guide equals his fellow's record for Everest climbing number

A Nepali Sherpa guide climbed Mount Everest for the 26th time, officials said, matching the record set by a fellow Nepalese guide, Kami Rita Sherpa, for the most ascents of the world’s highest peak.

Pasang Dawa Sherpa, 46, stood atop the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) peak on May 14, becoming the world’s second person to achieve the feat, Bigyan Koirala, a government tourism official, said, according to Al Jazeera.

Kami Rita, who is also climbing Everest now, could set another record if he makes it to the top of the world’s highest mountain.

Pasang Dawa Sherpa reached the summit on May 14 morning along with a Hungarian climber, according to expedition organiser Imagine Nepal Treks.

“They are descending from the top now and are in good shape,” the official, Dawa Futi Sherpa, told Reuters news agency.

Sherpas, who mostly use their first names, are known for their climbing skills and make a living mainly by guiding foreign clients in the mountains.

Dawa Futi said a Pakistani woman, Naila Kiani, who also climbed the peak on Sunday, was the first foreign climber to summit Everest in this year’s climbing season, which runs from March to May.

This could not be independently confirmed as many foreign climbers are now headed for the peak, a day after the ropes to the top were fixed.

Kiani, a 37-year-old banker based in Dubai, had climbed four of the world’s 14 highest mountains before Everest, The Himalayan Times newspaper said.

Nepal has issued a record 467 permits this year for foreign climbers seeking to reach the summit of Everest.