KATHMANDU, April 27: Climbing Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, is not an easy task. It is a journey filled with risks and challenges, which requires immense courage, confidence, and skills.
55-year-old Kami Rita Sherpa has become a symbol of this courage and bravery. He has reached the summit of Mount Everest 30 times. As of the time of writing, he has already reached the base camp for his 31st attempt.
Kami Rita holds the world record for the most ascents of Mount Everest, surpassing his own previous records each time. He is competing with himself.
He says that climbing Everest is not about breaking records but is a regular job and profession. It is difficult to say how many more times he will break his own record in the future. He has been involved in this journey since 1994, following in the footsteps of his father, who was also a climbing guide. Kami Rita has been connected with mountaineering since he was 12 years old. He is the only person to climb Everest 30 times in the 71-year history of Everest expeditions.
Currently, Kami Rita is preparing to climb Everest with an Indian army team, organized by Seven Summit Treks.
Kami Rita first summited Everest on May 13, 1994. Not only does he hold the record for the most ascents of Everest, but he also holds the record for the most ascents of all eight-thousand-meter peaks.
Kami Rita hails from Thame in Solukhumbu district. His home is located near the base of Mount Everest. Last year, two glacial lakes in Thame erupted, causing major floods and damage. Many houses were buried by the floods. The region is experiencing the most significant impacts from climate change, with rapidly melting glaciers and an increasing risk of glacial lake outburst floods. Kami Rita has continuously expressed concern about these issues in recent years.
Nepali woman's 10th Everest climb breaks her own record
Since the first successful ascent of Mount Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary on May 29, 1953, more than 8,000 climbers have reached the summit. Many have lost their lives during these dangerous expeditions.
Before his 31st expedition, Kami Rita emphasized the need for social security measures for climbers and suggested that the government allocate budgets and resources to manage waste collection in the Everest region due to the growing number of climbers.
Similarly, Lhakpa Sherpa, who has summited Mount Everest ten times, is known as the "Queen of the Mountain" in a Netflix documentary titled Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa. The documentary, directed by British filmmaker Lucy Walker, includes Nepali subtitles. This project was made possible through Lhakpa’s significant efforts.
At 50 years old, Lhakpa started her mountaineering career as a porter in her teenage years. Born in Sankhuwasabha, she faced poverty and hardships throughout her life.
Lhakpa successfully climbed Everest for the first time in 2000. In 1993, Pasang Lhamu Sherpa became the first Nepali woman to reach Everest's summit, but tragically died during her descent.
Now living in West Hartford, USA, Lhakpa has repeatedly broken her own record for the most ascents by a woman. In 2022, she climbed Everest for the tenth time, surpassing her own record. On this expedition, she also served as a guide for an American climbing team.
In 2016, she was named one of BBC's 100 most influential and inspiring women worldwide. In 2003, she and her brother and sister set a Guinness World Record by summiting Everest together.
Lhakpa has climbed Everest twice from Nepal and eight times from Tibet. She married Romanian-born climber George Dimarescu, and they climbed Everest together five times. They divorced in 2015. Lhakpa has three children.
Her parents did not encourage her to pursue a career in mountaineering. Her mother believed that climbing mountains would prevent her from marrying. Lhakpa often shared this story, recalling that her mother thought mountaineering would make her appear "too masculine" to be married.
Now, she hopes to climb Everest with her children. She continues to express her love for mountaineering and plans to keep climbing as long as her body allows.
"I find happiness and joy in the mountains. I will never give up climbing. I want young women to learn from me and never give up," she said in an interview with BBC.
In the documentary, she shared: "Whenever I dream, I see beautiful mountains. When I climb, I feel bigger and bigger. When I descend, I feel small like a mouse. I honor Everest as my mother."
In a recent conversation, Lhakpa mentioned that she is preparing for her next ascent of Everest in May. If successful, she will be the first woman to reach the summit for the 11th time.
“I was sporty from a young age. I believed that what a man can do, a woman can do too,” she said. When asked how many more times she plans to climb, she replied, “Now that my children are grown up, if my health permits, I want to keep climbing until I’m 82.”
When asked about Kami Rita's record, she said, “I want to prove that women can do what men can do.” Lhakpa calls herself a "doctor of the mountains" and says, "I know when avalanches are likely to happen and how the weather will change. Just as our ancestors could predict the weather by looking at the sky, I have learned to do the same."
Lhakpa is also involved in cleanliness campaigns in the Everest region. "People say there is a lot of garbage on Everest, but that’s not true. Climbers are more aware now and don’t leave much waste. The real issue is the waste management in Kathmandu," she believes.
Her philosophy is that achieving something requires genuine willpower. “It’s not enough just to make a commitment; any work must come from the heart. If it does, anything becomes easy. This applies to both men and women,” she said.
