Who is Kami Rita Sherpa?
KAMI Rita Sherpa holds the record for most summit ascents of Mount Everest.
His Everest ascents have captivated the mountaineering community.
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Who is Kami Rita Sherpa?
Kami Rita is a Sherpa guide born on January 17, 1979 in Thame, Solukhumbu District of Nepal.
The Sherpa are one of the Tibetan groups, native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal, numbering about 150,000 people.
Sherpas are considered excellent climbers due to their ability to use oxygen efficiently, as well as their superior strength and endurance.
It was no different for Kami Rita, who started as a porter at Everest Base Camp at the age of 12.
Mountaineering ran in his family, his father was among the first professional Sherpa guides and his brother Lakpa was also an important Everest guide.
By the time Kami Rita was 24, he had scaled Everest and was one of the youngest climbers in the world.
Kami Rita has also completed Cho-Oyu, Lhotse and K2 and holds the record for most 8,000m summits.
How many times has Kami Rita Sherpa climbed Mount Everest?
Kami Rita became the third person to summit Everest 21 times in 2017 – sharing the record with Phurba Tashi and Apa Sherpa.
Not content with sharing world records, Rita became the first person to scale Everest 22 times in 2018 at the age of 48.
In 2021, Kami Rita broke his own record by achieving the climb 25 times, and again 26 times in 2022.
The race was on, however, as fellow Sherpa Pasang Dawa also scaled Everest 26 times, spurring Kami Rita to reclaim his title and climb Mount Everest a whopping 27 times on May 17, 2023.
Of his incredible accomplishment, Rita said he wanted to do it “not only for myself, but also for my family, the Sherpa people and my country, Nepal.”
Is Kami Rita Sherpa married and does he have children?
Kami Rita is married to Lakpa Jangmu, who isn’t shy about voicing her concerns about her husband’s dangerous career.
She said: “I keep telling him we could find other jobs and start a small business. But he doesn’t listen to me at all.”
The couple have two children together and live in Kathmandu.
