A Sherpa guide scaled Mount Everest on Sunday for the 26th time, matching the record set by a fellow Nepalese guide for the most ascents of the world’s highest peak. Pasang Dawa Sherpa reached the summit on Sunday morning along with a Hungarian climber, according to the expedition organizer, Imagine Nepal Treks.
The season’s first wave of climbers reached the summit this weekend as Sherpa guides fixed ropes and made paths for the hundreds of climbers who will attempt to scale the peak over the next few weeks. Since making his first successful of climb of the peak in 1998, Dawa has made the trip almost every year. Experienced mountain guide Kami Rita earlier held the record outright for the most climbs of Mount Everest after his 26th successful trip last year. Rita is expected to attempt to climb the peak again later this month as he guides foreign climbers to the top of the world.