Renowned climber and expert high-altitude rescuer Gelje Sherpa successfully summited Mount Cho Oyu (8,150m) on Thursday morning, achieving his goal to scale all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters, expedition organizer Seven Summit Trek (SST) said.
“He finally achieved his goal this morning. There are a couple more climbers who will achieve the 14-peak record in a few days after Shisapangma,” said Thaneswar Guragai, Manager of (SST).
The organizer said five foreign climbers accompanied by six Nepali guides reached the summit of the world’s seventh highest mountain at 4.30 am local time. Pakistani climber Shehroze Kashif, British Adriana Brownlee, were accompanied by Sherpa guides Pasang Nurbu Sherpa, Migtemba Sherpa, Gelje Sherpa, Lakpa Nuru Sherpa and Dawa Nurbu Sherpa.
Gelje succeeded summiting Cho Oyu in his third attempt. He had earlier tried to summit the peak from Nepal side twice last year when he failed to get an entry to Tibet during Covid. He led a team to try to open the route from Nepal side, but was forced to retreat from around 7,000m due to unfavorable weather.
Gelje’s attempt was motivated by the fact that he would have been the youngest climber to summit all 14 peaks had he been able to climb Cho Oyu within April. Only four foreign climbers and four Nepali climbers got climbing permits and visas for Shishapangma and Cho Oyu this spring which did not include Gelje. With this, he lost his opportunity to claim the title.
However, the title would have been short lived. 21-year-old Shehroze Kashif from Pakistan and 22-year-old Adriana Brownlee, are currently in the race to clinch the youngest 14 peak climber title. With Cho Oyu summit under their belt, they both have now completed their 13th eight-thousander. They will take the title of youngest male and female climbers to complete 14 peaks once they summit Shishapangma.
Gelje is currently one of the most well known climbers in the world. He was a part of the Project Possible team, supporting the Nirmal Purja Nimsdai’s 14 Peak mission in 2019. He was one of the key members of Nepali team that summited K2 in winter of 2021. But the virality of his fame currently comes from his rescue of a climber from 8,500m on Everest – an almost superhuman feat which was captured on video by his colleagues.
On May 18, Gelje, who was guiding a Chinese client to Everest, saw a climber clinging to a rope and shivering from extreme cold at an altitude of 8,500m in Everest. Gelje gave the climber his oxygen pack and brought him down to Balcony (8,400m) by carrying the climber on his back for a distance of almost 600m. Nima Tashi Sherpa, another guide, joined him at South Col and they were able to save the life of the Malaysian climber.
As he reached the base camp after an almost impossible rescue, another group reached out to him to conduct another rescue. A kitchen staff had fallen into a crevasse. Gelje went down almost 60 meters into the crevasse, dug out the person from freshly piled snow and saved him successfully.
17 year old Nima Rinji Sherpa also summited Cho Oyu on Friday, becoming the world’s youngest climber to scale 10 peaks above 8,000m. Last Autumn, Nima started climbing 8,000m peak beginning with Manaslu, world’s eighth highest mountain. Then, he scaled Everest and Lhotse in spring. Nima, who was 17 years and 35 days old then, set two records- the youngest to traverse Everest and Lhotse as well as the youngest to scale Lhotse, world’s fourth highest peak.
Nima then went on to scale five eight-thousanders in Pakistan in summer. He successfully summited all five peaks in 31 days, proving his climbing skill and determination. “I trained him to become a climber. There can be no prouder moment for a father than to see his child succeed,” said his father Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, a professional climber and owner of the 14 Peaks Expedition, a sister company of Seven Summit Treks.
Nima will attempt Shishapangma soon. With that, only Annapurna, Kanchenjunga and Makalu will remain, which he will attempt in Spring. “I am sure he can do it,” said Tashi. If Nima is successful, he will claim the title of youngest 14 peak summiter.
Taiwanese Tseng Ko Erh aka Grace Tseng, Polish Dorota Lidia and Russian Alina Pekova, all on a mission to complete 14 peaks, also scaled Cho Oyu as their 13th 8,000m peak.
