A Sherpa guide scaled the summit of Mount Everest on Sunday for the 26th time, equalling the record set by a Nepalese guide for the most ascents of the world’s highest peak.
Pasang Dawa Sherpa, 46, reached the summit (8,849-m peak) on Sunday morning along with a Hungarian climber, according to expedition organiser Imagine Nepal Treks.
Dawa, who made his first successful climb in 1998, matched the record number of summits with Kami Rita Sherpa.
Dawa's first climbing partner is about to reach Everest height for the 27th time
Meanwhile, Rita is currently stationed at the Everest base camp and is planning to scale for a record 27th time.
Interestingly, Dawa equalled Rita’s record in the year that also marks the 70th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay.
Nineteen mountaineers, including five foreigners, reached the summit of the world’s highest peak this weekend.
Sherpa guides fixed ropes and made paths for the hundreds of climbers who will attempt to scale the peak over the next few weeks.
“On Saturday a team of nine rope-fixing climbers from Nepal reached the summit,” said Yuvaraj Khatiwada, director at the Department of Tourism, Nepal. On Sunday, five foreigners climbed the summit of Mount Everest.
Pakistani national among 5 to reach Everest recently
They include Naila Kiani and Nadia Liakhoso from Pakistan, Jessica Rai Wadel from the USA, Marton Ceterper from Hungary, and Liansu Cui from China.
Kiani became the second woman from Pakistan to raise the country's flag at the world's highest peak. Samina Baig was the first woman mountaineer from Pakistan to scale the mighty Everest in 2013.
Nepal has issued a record 466 permits to climb Mount Everest this spring, officials said. Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks.
In April, three Nepali climbers went missing on Mount Everest after an avalanche buried them in a crevasse.
(With inputs from PTI)
