A Nepali Sherpa guide said Monday he will leave fora record-breaking 22nd expedition to the top of the world’s highest mountain a week later than planned. Kami Rita Sherpa, 48, first set foot on the summit of Everest in 1994and has made it to the top a record - equalling 21 times since - a feat shared by fellow guides Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi.
“I am very excited. I am making yet another attempt to create history. I want to make the entire Sherpa community and my country proud,” he told dpa in Kathmandu.
Sherpa is leaving for Lukla, the gateway to Everest, next week and plans to reach the top of Everest in the last week of May.
He had planned to leave for Everest on Sunday, but the trip was postponed for a week because of the changes in his expedition team.
The schedule of the journey now hinges on weather conditions.
“If the weather is favourable, we could reach the top between May 15and 29,” he added.
Sherpa wants to continue climbing Everest for at least two more years. “I will continue to climb the Everest even after I break therecord. I still feel fit. I can complete 25 accents,” he said.
Every year, hundreds of climbers attempt to scale Everest during the spring climbing season, which runs from April to May.
More than 5,000 people have summited the 8,848-metre peak that straddles Nepal and China. — dpa
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