Kami Rita Sherpa knows the top of the world more than any other man: he holds the record for the most successful ascents of Everest. He broke it last week, when he added 27 summits, and he did it again this Tuesday. There, at the highest point on Earth, with his back to the strong wind and with snow and mountain tourists dressed in red in the background, he would take off his oxygen mask to announce, still agitated, that he had successfully completed his summit 28.
The terrestrial space at 8,849 meters above sea level is not an immaculate white space but a ‘photocall’ colored by hundreds of pennants and Rita also displayed hers there, at 9:20 in the morning. “I feel immensely proud to show the indomitable human spirit and inspire the younger generations,” she wrote on her social media profile when posting the video. “Climbing runs through my veins.” Her feat was confirmed by the Nepal Tourism Bureau.
Rita is 53 years old and is a mountain guide with the Seven Summit Treks company. “I have helped hundreds of foreigners to reach the top and bring them back to their homes, without any casualties, even when it has been risky for my own life,” he wrote as he prepared for the start of the peak season in Nepal, which in 2023 it has granted 480 permits and eleven climbers have died. “Sometimes it gets difficult, especially when you are already 52 years old (six weeks ago) and you are still conquering the mountains, which give me strength when I feel that they call me.”
Duel on the southeast slope
Rita the sherpa reached the roof of the world for the first time in 1994; the next summit occurred three years later; then almost once a year, until in 2009 she did it twice, a feat that she would repeat in other seasons, although always with about 20 days between one climb and another. Not like this year, that in less than a week she has gone up twice. “A lot of records are broken these days and people think that’s the only thing that matters,” mused Rita, who likes to climb the southeastern slope route. «But I just moved with the current without realizing that I was achieving historical marks. Time passes quickly when you are at the place of your destination.
However, there is a competition for height between Rita and the Sherpa Pasang Dawa, who is hot on her heels. Rita made the summit 26 last year and this May 14 Dawa reached her. Three days later, Rita added one more promotion. But Dawa, 46, did not stop. And eight days after his own promotion, 26 of him matched him for the second time.
Dawa Sherpa, who also leads tourists to the top of Everest with Imagine Nepal Treks, arrived at 8:25 a.m. on May 22, the best month to tackle the mountain. With a few hours difference, Rita put land in the middle again in this particular duel between Sherpas and culminated her 28th ascent.
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