Mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa has set an incredible new record with his latest summit of Mount Everest. At 4am local time on Tuesday, May 27, the talented guide, nicknamed Everest Man, reached the 8,849m (29,032ft) summit for the 31st time, smashing his own record for the most climbs up the peak.
Kami Rita, 55, was guiding a group of climbers with Seven Summit Treks. He had attempted to summit a few days earlier but had been forced to turn back due to bad weather.
A Seven Summit Treks Instagram post revealed: "Kami Rita reached the summit of Everest (Sagarmatha) for the 31st time early this morning, at around 4am, under fairly stable weather conditions. Serving as the main guide (Sirdar) for the Army Adventure Wing Everest Expedition [...] Kami Rita Sherpa needs no introduction. He is not just a national climbing hero, but a global symbol of Everest itself."
Kami Rita first summited Everest in 1994 and has done nearly every year since. His father was one of the first sherpa mountain guides.
Elsewhere, Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa received a hero's welcome as he returned to Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, after making four successful ascents of Everest in just 15 days this season.
The 29-year-old climbed the world's highest peak for the first time on May 9 as part of a rope-fixing team; he then summitted on May 14, 19 and 23.
News of the incredible feats comes as the Everest spring season climbing window closes. Icefall doctors (expert climgers) are due to remove ladders from the Khumbu Icefall soon as changing weather makes snow and ice unstable, and the chance of high winds and snowfall increases. This means that unfortunately for some, their summit bids have ended.
US runner Tyler Andrews had been making a late-season attempt to set the fastest time from base camp to the summit with no supplementary oxygen. It was his second bid in two weeks, but had to turn around.
"At 6:24am on May 24 my safety team made the call to turn me around at 8,200m (27,000 ft) on Mt. Everest due to extremely high winds blowing just above me. For the second time in two weeks, I was under world record pace and within just a couple hours of the summit; but Apu Everest did not want to grant us safe passage," he announced in an Instagram post.
"I am absolutely gutted, devasted, as this project has been many years in the making. I am also tremendously grateful for all the support from my team and sponsors, friends and family, and the strangers who have been following from around the world and sent countless really kind messages."
Daredevil Brit Tim Howell, who was attempting to break the world record for highest-ever base jump from neighboring peak Lhotse, also had to turn back for the second year running due to bad weather.
"His team fixed lines all the way to the exit point at 8,300m with the promise of bluebird skies in the forecast," a Jottnar Instagram post reported.
However, Howell shared terrifying footage of the team trying to shelter at 8,300m where they waited for three hours:
"The 22nd was supposed to be a blue bird day after 2pm but the window never appeared. The exit is big, overhung and is waiting for my return. We had slept at 7900m for 3 nights prior to this and had been waiting for the window. Unfortunately it never came," he announced.
Advnture senior staff writer Julia Clarke is currently trekking to Everest base camp. You can follow her exploits and all our other Everest coverage here and on our Instagram account.
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