A Briton took the record for most climbs on Mount Everest from a foreigner after standing on top of the highest mountain in the world for the 16th time.
Kenton Cool of Gloucestershire reached the top of a mountain in Nepal early Sunday morning, according to a post on his Instagram page. The 48-year-old’s initial pressure for the summit was postponed due to strong winds, which forced his team to wait under the summit.
Many Nepalese guides who help tourists climb the mountain have completed significantly more climbs on Everest. The current record holder is Kami Rita, a Sherpa who climbed the mountain for the 26th time last week at the age of 52.
In an Instagram post, Cool paid tribute to local leaders who he said had “worked super hard for our name”, calling them “mountain superheroes”.
Cool has previously climbed Everest with other climbers, including Sir Ranulf Fiennes and television cameraman Ben Fogle.
He was told he would never walk without help again after breaking both heel bones in a 1996 climbing accident. He opposed these predictions with a year of surgery and therapy, but still suffers from chronic pain.
Speaking to the PA news agency on a satellite phone before the final leg of the climb, Cool said the conditions looked good, with a “great weather forecast” and a “great team”. “Excessive self-confidence in a mountain like Everest is a dangerous thing, so nothing is certain until you return to base camp,” he said.
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May is the most popular time to climb the world’s highest peak, and the Nepalese government has issued 316 permits to climb Everest this peak season, according to Reuters. The large number of people trying to complete the climb in a short period of time had previously led to negative coverage of the queues to reach the top – and the debris left by some hikers.
But the mountaineering industry also brings significant revenue to Nepal and maintains thousands of jobs in the region around Everest, which was hit hard when global tourism collapsed during the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Kathmandu Post, last week about 150 climbers climbed Mount Everest in one day, including a group of black climbers who took part in an expedition designed to improve the diversity of the mountaineering industry.
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