Nima Rinji Sherpa, a record-holding climber who is racing to become the youngest person in mountaineering history to complete the 14 highest peaks, stood atop the summit of Mount Makalu on Saturday morning, said his expedition organizer 14 Peaks Expedition.
Sherpa, who recently celebrated his 18th birthday, reached the summit with his climbing partner Pasang Nurbu at 7:20 am. The feat comes just a month after he climbed Mount Annapurna I without the use of supplementary oxygen. With Makalu in his bag, Sherpa is now just shy of two peaks – Kanchanjunga in Nepal and Shishapangma in China– to complete the 14 peaks above 8000 meters.
Nima will be heading to Kanchenjunga, but he will have to wait for other season to tackle Shishapangma, as China officially closed Cho Oyu and Shishapangma this spring for all climbers.
Had there been no avalanche last October, he would have summited Shishapangma. All expeditions got cancelled after massive avalanche that swept away four climbers.
