Mount Everest’s north face as seen from the path to the base camp, Tibet. Kami Rita Sherpa has climbed it 26 times. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
A Nepali mountaineer named Kami Rita Sherpa has summited Mount Everest an astounding 26 times. On Saturday, according to reports, he completed his most recent climb and in the process, broke his own record. He already held a world record for summiting the world’s most famous mountain five times in four years.
At 52 years old, the mountain guide hit the 25 summits mark in May of 2021. According to NPR, Kami Rita has “set and broken the world record for Everest ascents almost every spring for the past four years.”
He’s been a mountaineer for nearly four decades and set his first record for Everest summits in May of 2018. At the time, it was 22 summits. He shared the previous record with two other climbers, but it seems unlikely that Kami Rita’s record will be broken any time soon — especially since he shows no sign of slowing down.
Kami Rita Sherpa is the most accomplished Everest climber in the world. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The first time he entered the Guinness Book of World Records was in 2019, when he completed his 23rd climb. Amazingly, he broke that record less than a week later when he summited it again for the 24th time.
Kami Rita has Everest in his blood. His father was one of the first guides on Everest. His brother, Lakpa Rita, also a guide, has climbed Everest 17 times. and Kami Rita began taking climber’s gear to the base camp when he was just 12 years old.
