Kami Rita, a Sherpa climbing guide known as “Everest Man”, reached the mountain’s 8,849-metre (29,032ft) peak on Tuesday, 31 years after first making the summit. Officials said he reached the summit via the southeast ridge route, while acting as a guide to a 22-member Indian army team, accompanied by 27 other Sherpas.

“Massive congratulations to the legendary Kami Rita Sherpa on his 31st successful ascent of Everest, the highest number of ascents by anyone in history,” expedition organiser Seven Summit Treks said. “Kami Rita Sherpa needs no introduction. He is not just a national climbing hero, but a global symbol of Everest itself,” it added. A director for the company said Kami Rita was making his way down to lower camps on Tuesday. Kami Rita, the son of a Sherpa guide, first climbed Everest in 1994, and has made it to the summit nearly every year since, other than during years when authorities closed the mountain to climbers.

Speaking to the AFP news agency in May 2024 after a previous record-breaking climb, Kami Rita said he was not especially motivated by setting records, and that he was “just working”. “I am glad for the record, but records are eventually broken,” he said. “I am more happy that my climbs help Nepal be recognised in the world.”

The climber with the second highest number of Everest summits to their name is another Sherpa, Pasang Dawa, with 29. The pair have been in competition for who can make it to the top of Everest the most times. Himal Gautam, director of the mountaineering and adventure section of Nepal’s tourist ministry, told AFP Kami Rita’s achievement had “helped to take Nepal’s mountaineering sector to the next height”. More than 8,000 people have reached the peak of Mount Everest since it was first summited by Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953. (Al Jazeera/AFP)