Kathmandu, Nepal Renowned Sherpa mountain guide Kami Rita completed the climb of Mount Everest for a record 30th time on Wednesday, his second ascent of the world's summit this month.
The 54-year-old, known as “Everest Man,” reached the 29,032-foot summit at 7:49 a.m., according to Khim Lal Gautam, a government official at the base camp.
His first ascent of this year's climbing season was on May 12, guiding foreign clients.
Niranjan Shrestha / AP
After this 29th ascent, he told Agence France-Presse that he was “delighted by the record, but eventually records are broken. I am happier that my ascents help Nepal to be recognized in the world.”
He too climbed Everest twice last yearsetting the record for most ascents of the world's highest mountain in the first and extending it less than a week later.
Climbers usually take several days to climb Everest and it is very rare for them to do it more than once in a short time, reports the Reuters news agency.
His closest competitor for most Everest ascents is fellow Sherpa guide Pasang Dawa, who has 27 successful ascents of the mountain.
Rita first climbed Mount Everest in 1994 and has made the trip almost every year since then. He is one of many Sherpa guides whose experience and skills are vital to the safety and success each year of foreign climbers seeking to summit the mountain.
His father was one of the first Sherpa guides. In addition to her ascents of Everest, Kami Rita has climbed several other peaks that are among the highest in the world, including K2, Cho Oyu, Manaslu and Lhotse.
Niranjan Shrestha / AP
Authorities said more than 450 climbers have scaled Everest from the peak's Nepalese south side this climbing season, which ends in a few days.
Nepalese authorities issued hundreds of climbing permits to foreign climbers this season, with at least as many local Sherpa guides accompanying them.
Everest was first climbed in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.
Mountain climbing is a key tourist attraction in Nepal, which has eight of the world's 14 highest peaks.
