Kenton Cool/Kami Rita Sherpa: Nepalese and British climbers break their own records with successful ascents of Everest

CNN
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A British climber and a Nepali guide have broken their own records for most ascents of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, trek officials announced Sunday.

Rakesh Gurung, director of Nepal’s tourism ministry, said Briton Kenton Cool, 50, and Nepalese guide Kami Rita Sherpa, 54, climbed the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak, respectively for the 18th and 29th time.

They participated in separate expeditions to guide their clients.

“He just keeps going and going… amazing guy!” » Garrett Madison, from the American expedition organizing company Madison Mountaineering, spoke about the Nepalese mountaineer.

Madison teamed up with Kami Rita to summit Everest, Lhotse and K2 in 2014.

K2, located in Pakistan, is the second highest mountain in the world and Lhotse in Nepal is the fourth highest.

Lukas Furtenbach of Austrian expedition operator Furtenbach Adventures called Cool’s feat remarkable.

“He is a fundamental part of the Everest guiding industry. Kenton Cool is an institution,” Furtenbach, who is leading an expedition to the Chinese side of Everest, told Reuters.
The two climbers took the Southeast Ridge route to the summit.

Inaugurated by the first climbers, New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953, the route remains the most popular route to the summit of Everest.

Kami Rita first climbed Everest in 1994 and has done so almost every year since, except for three years when authorities closed the mountain for various reasons.

He climbed the mountain twice last year.

Climbing is a major tourism activity and a source of income as well as jobs for Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks, including Everest.

Nepal has issued 414 permits, each costing climbers $11,000 for the climbing season that ends this month.