Kenton Cool has surpassed his own record by scaling Mount Everest 18 times, the highest number of ascents by any non-Sherpa climber. The renowned British climber reached the summit on Sunday morning, according to officials at the Department of Tourism.
He was the first person to complete the Everest triple crown, comprising Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse, in one push without returning to base camp, according to the BBC. He also became the first British guide to lead a client to the summit of K2, the world’s second-highest mountain.
Cool, an international guide, is part of an expedition organized by Furtenbach Adventures, led by American climber David John Watson. Other members of the 15-member team include Rudolf Hauser, Christopher Parrott, Klaus Wolfgang Ullrich, Benjamin Edward Lieber, Lajos Olahs, Ladan Espandar, Meinhard Platzer, Graham Parrott, Hoeskuldur Tryggvason, Steffen Bixby Merte, Stuart David Robertson, Ran Krauss, and Fernanda Maura Antunes Maciel.
It is unclear how many of them were successful in the ascent of the peak. The team also included Nepali guide Dorji Gyaljen Sherpa, who has made 24 successful ascents of Everest. Dorji Gyaljen is the brother of climbing guide Pasang Dawa Sherpa, who last year briefly shared the title of the highest number of ascents of Mount Everest with Kami Rita Sherpa, with 27 ascents.
Cool’s ascent follows shortly after climbing guide Kami Rita Sherpa broke his own record with his 29th ascent of Mount Everest, the highest by any climber.
Meanwhile, photojournalist Purnima Shrestha also scaled Everest this morning, according to her expedition organiser 8K Expeditions. She was assisted by Phura Tenzin Sherpa. This is her second ascent of the peak.
“Purnima will attempt to summit one more time this season,” said Pemba Sherpa, founder of 8K Expedition.
She has already summited eight mountains above 8,000m. She has already set a record as Nepal’s fastest woman to climb most 8,000m peaks.
She scaled Everest in 2018. Then she climbed K2, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Manaslu, Dhaulagiri, and Annapurna.
Base camp officials said Sunday witnessed dozens of successful summits by national and international climbers.
Nepal has issued 414 climbing permits so far. It is highly likely that the summit continues till the end of the month.
