Sherpas from Nepal: World’s 2nd Person to Conquer Mount Everest 26 Times

A Nepali sherpa guide scaled Mount Everest for the 26th time on Sunday, making him the second person in history to accomplish the feat, according to climbing officials. Pasang Dawa Sherpa, 46, stood atop the 8,849-m (29,032-ft) peak, sharing the record number of summits with Kami Rita Sherpa, said Bigyan Koirala, a government tourism official. Kami Rita, who is also climbing Everest now, could set another record if he makes it to the top.

According to a representative of Pasang Dawa’s job, hiking business Imagine Nepal Treks, they both made it to the top with a Hungarian client. “They are descending from the top now and are in good shape,” the official, Dawa Futi Sherpa, told Reuters. 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, Naila Kiani, a Pakistani woman who also scaled the mountain on Sunday, became the first foreign climber to reach the summit of Everest during the climbing season, which runs from March to May. Since several international climbers are currently making their way to the peak, one day after the top ropes were set, it was impossible to independently verify this. 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 of 467 permits this year for foreign climbers seeking to reach the summit of Everest. Because every climber is often accompanied by at least one sherpa guide, there are concerns that the Hillary Step, a constrained area below the summit, may get crowded. According to a Himalayan database and Nepali officials, Everest has been scaled more than 11,000 times since it was first done so by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953, with approximately 320 people losing their lives in the process.