Mountaineer scales Everest for record 26th time

A Nepali Sherpa has scaled Mount Everest for a record 26th time, breaking his own record set last year, a government official said. Kami Rita Sherpa, 52, scaled the 8,849-metre mountain along the traditional south-east ridge route leading 10 other Sherpa climbers.

“Kami Rita has broken his own record and established a new world record in climbing,” Taranath Adhikari, director general of the department of tourism, said.

The climbing route used by Kami Rita was pioneered by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and remains the most popular. This year, Nepal has issued 316 permits to climb Everest in the peak season, compared with 408 last year.