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.

The accident marked the third death on Everest within two weeks during Nepal’s spring climbing season, one of the country’s most important tourism revenue periods.

Himal Gautam said climbers remained undeterred by travel complications stemming from instability in the Middle East, with large numbers still arriving for expeditions in the Himalayas.
“Everest continues to lure an increased number of climbers,” Gautam said.

Authorities have issued 492 climbing permits for Everest this season, each costing $15,000, exceeding the 478 permits issued in 2023 and underscoring sustained global demand for high-altitude expeditions.
Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, relies heavily on mountaineering tourism as a source of foreign currency, employment and economic activity.

Officials said rope-fixing teams from the Expedition Operators’ Association of Nepal were expected to complete the route to Everest’s summit by the weekend, allowing summit attempts to begin if weather conditions improve.

Other recent fatalities included Bijay Ghimire Bishwakarma, 35, who died during an acclimatization exercise in the dangerous Khumbu Icefall area, and Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, 51, who died while traveling to Everest base camp earlier this month.
Officials also reported the deaths of American climber Johannesen Shelley, 53, on Mount Makalu, the world’s fifth-highest mountain, and Czech climber David Ronbinek on nearby Makalu II.

Authorities did not disclose further details about those incidents.

The climbing season had already faced delays after a massive ice block and falling debris disrupted preparations and postponed the opening of Everest’s summit route by nearly two weeks in April, leaving hundreds of climbers stranded at base camp.