As expected, Kami Rita Sherpa has also climbed Mount Everest for the second time this spring season. According to his employer, the Nepalese expedition provider Seven Summit Treks, the 53-year-old – on bottled oxygen – reached the highest point on earth at 8849 meters this morning local time and, with now 28 summit successes, may once again call himself the sole “person with the most Everest ascents”. Yesterday, the 46-year-old Pasang Dawa Sherpa had climbed Everest for the 27th time and thus equaled Kami Rita at least for about 24 hours. According to the well-informed US mountain blogger Alan Arnette, the number of summit successes this season now adds up to an estimated 500.
Summit reached and weather station serviced
Meanwhile, for the first time this spring, a team has also scaled Mount Everest from the Tibetan north side. According to Chinese state media reports, 13 people reached the summit. Among them were scientists who had been maintaining a weather station located just below the highest point.
The reopening of Tibet after the COVID-19 pandemic had come too late for commercial foreign operators, so only Chinese climbers were again ascending the north side this year.
Harila’s eight-thousander hunt continues
Meanwhile, according to her team back home, Norwegian Kristin Harila reached the summits of Mount Everest and Lhotse (8516 meters) within eight hours today – wearing a breathing mask and accompanied by her team led by Nepalese Tenjen Sherpa. It was Kristin and Tenjen’s eight-thousanders number five and six this spring. Previously, the Norwegian had climbed – in the same style – Shishapangma (8,027 m) and Cho Oyu (8,188 m) in Tibet, as well as Makalu (8,485 m) and last week also Kangchenjunga (8,586 m) in Nepal.
In a new edition of her eight-thousander hunt, Harila wants to climb the 14 highest mountains in the world within six months via the normal routes. She has abandoned her original plan to do without bottled oxygen. In 2022, the Norwegian had to stop after climbing twelve eight-thousanders because Tibet was still closed to foreign climbers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
