Kami Rita, 56, reached the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) summit at 10:12 a.m. local time while guiding climbers according to Nepal’s Department of Tourism.
The department described the achievement as a “historic milestone” and praised the Sherpa guide for his contribution to Nepal’s mountain tourism industry.

Authorities also said Sherpa climber Lakhpa Sherpa, 52, completed her 11th ascent of Everest, the highest number recorded by a woman. Further details about the expedition were not immediately available.

Kami Rita, who was born in Thame village in Nepal’s Solukhumbu district, first climbed Everest in 1994 and has summited nearly every year since, except during seasons when expeditions were canceled in 2014, 2015 and 2020 due to avalanches, earthquakes and the COVID-19 pandemic. In several years, he reached the summit more than once in a single climbing season.

Thame is also the birthplace of legendary Sherpa climber Tenzing Norgay, who, alongside New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary, became the first confirmed climbers to reach Everest’s summit in 1953.

More than 8,000 people have climbed Everest since the first successful ascent more than seven decades ago, many completing multiple expeditions.
Among non-Sherpa climbers, British mountaineer Kenton Cool holds the record with 19 Everest summits, followed by American climbers Dave Hahn and Garrett Madison with 15 ascents each. Cool and Madison are currently participating in expeditions on Everest this season.

Sherpa guides play a central role in Nepal’s mountaineering industry, assisting foreign climbers on Everest and other Himalayan peaks, with climbing tourism remaining a key source of income for many families in the Solukhumbu region.

Nepal has issued 492 climbing permits for Everest during the current March-to-May season, according to tourism authorities. Three Nepali climbers have died on the mountain this month.