16-year-old Nima Rinji Sherpa from Sankhuwasabha in Nepal scaled Manaslu (8,163m) on Friday morning becoming the youngest person in the world to scale the mountain, expedition organizer said.
Nima Rinji stood atop the real summit of Manaslu at 9.20 am, his outfitter Seven Summit Treks said. He summited the peak along with seven climbers from the Seven Summit team– Japanese Naoko Watanabe, Iranian Ahmad M Saleh and Nepalis Tenjing Sherpa, Pemba Thinduk Sherpa, Manish Maharjan, Nurbu Sherpa and Lakpa Sherpa.
“He finally scaled his first eight-thousander,” said his father Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, who owns the 14 Peaks Expedition, a sister company of Seven Summit Treks, adding, “He reached 16 years this April, and so became of age to attempt big mountains.”
Tashi, aprofessional climber himself, trained Nima Rinji to achieve this feat. “I used to take him to climbing trainings whenever I could. His mother always encouraged him to aim higher,” he shared with Everest Chronicle.
Nima is currently pursuing his A Level. Besides climbing, he is a good photographer and videographer. “He is also a good footballer,” said Tashi.
Manaslu is largely viewed as a practice mountain for those beginning 8000er climbs. Earlier, climbers would reach what is now known as fore summit, some 7 meters below the real summit, to qualify to get a summit certificate.
Climbers say that the true summit conquest is harder for beginners as one has to climb along the corniced ridge, for both climbing and descending.
However, it was an easy climb and descend for Nima. “He was prepared to take on higher mountains way before this but he was still too young. He is strong and athletic, which is why it was much easier to climb in difficult weather,” Tashi said.
Tashi wants to see Nima grow on to become an accomplished mountaineer. “I am planning a 14 peak mission for him,” the elated father said. Whether that syncs up with Nima’s plan, we have yet to ascertain as Nima and the team is descending down to base camp and currently unreachable.
