Sherpa Guide Ascends Everest for 26th Time, Tying Record

A Sherpa guide on Sunday matched the record for most ascents of Mount Everest when he finished climbing the world's tallest mountain for the 26th time. Pasang Dawa Sherpa summited with a Hungarian climber, NPR reports. The 46-year-old made his first successful ascent in 1998 and has climbed Everest almost every year since; he shares the record with another Nepalese guide, Kami Rita Sherpa, who scaled the peak for the 26th time last year. Kami Rita is expected to do so again later this climbing season, which just began. There are fears it could be a crowded season, with a record 467 permits for foreign climbers having been approved.

The start of the spring season was delayed after three Sherpa climbers fell into a crevasse last month; they have not been found. Climbers generally reach base camp in April and get acclimatized to the high altitude before summit attempts begin in May. As for Pasang Dawa and his client, "They are descending from the top now and are in good shape," an official from hiking company Imagine Nepal Treks tells Reuters. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay; it has since been summited more than 11,000 times. About 320 people have been killed in the attempt. (More Mount Everest stories.)