Everest Day: Some interesting records set on Everest

KATHMANDU: Today marks the anniversary of the first successful summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, the second climbing pair of British Everest Expedition reached the summit of Mt Everest at 11:30 am on May 29, 1953.

The historic ascent captured the world’s attention and became a symbol of human perseverance and exploration. Scaling the treacherous slopes of Everest, standing at a towering height of 8,848 meters (29,029 feet), presented unprecedented challenges that had previously been unconquered. Their successful ascent paved the way for countless others to follow in their footsteps and realize their own mountaineering dreams.

As the world commemorates the 70th anniversary of the first Everest summit, we present you some of the records set on Mt Everest:

First female climber on Everest:

Japanese climber Junko Tabei was the first woman to climb Mt Everest. She achieved the feat on May 16, 1975.

Most Ascents in a day:
354 people climbed Mt Everest on May 23, 2019, the highest so far. The previous record of 266 people was set on May 19, 2013.

Most Everest Ascents (Female):
Lhakpa Sherpa (48) of Nepal has climbed Mt Everest 10 times – a record among female climbers. She logged her 10th summit on May 12, 2022. She first reached the Everest summit on May 18, 2000, from the southern side. Her other nine summits are from the northern side.

Most Everest Ascents (Male):
Kami Rita Sherpa reached the summit of Mt Everest for a record 28th time on May 23. This was his second Everest summit this spring, having also reached the Everest summit six days earlier. Kami Rita successfully climbed Mt Everest for the first time on May 13, 1994, aged 24.

First twins on Everest:
Tashi and Nungshi Malik of India are the first twin sisters to summit Everest, doing so on 19 May 2013.

First Astronaut on Everest:
Former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski of the US successfully summitted Everest on May 20, 2009, , becoming the first person to travel in space and climb Earth’s highest mountain. He also left a small Moon rock that had been collected by the crew of Apollo 11 on the Everest summit.

First solo ascent:
Reinhold Messner of Italy became the first to successfully climb Mt Everest solo when he reached the summit on August 20, 1980. It took him three days to make the ascent from his base camp at 6,500 m (21,325 ft). He reached the summit without using bottled oxygen.

First winter summit:
Polish climbers Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy became the first climbers to summit Mt Everest in winter when they reached the summit on February 17, 1980.

Longest stay on Everest summit:
Babu Chhiri Sherpa of Nepal completed a stay of 21 hours at the summit of Everest without the use of bottled oxygen in May 1999.

First double amputee on Everest:
The first double amputee to summit Everest from the south side is Xia Boyu (69) of China who achieved this feat on May 14, 2018. In 1975, Xia’s feet had to be amputated due to frostbite while attempting to scale Everest, and, in 1996, his legs were amputated below the knee due to cancer.

First blind man on Everest:
Erik Weihenmayer (USA) was born with retinoschisis, an eye condition that left him totally blind by the age of 13. Despite this, on 25 May 2001, he reached the summit of Everest, the first blind man ever to have done so.

First to ski from Everest:
Ski instructor Davo Karnicar of Slovenia skied from the summit of Everest to Base Camp in 5 hours on October 7, 2000, becoming the first person to ski from the summit of Everest.

Non-Nepali with the highest Everest summit:
Kenton Cool of the United Kingdom is the non-Nepali with the highest number of Everest summits. Th 49-year-old has reached the summit of Mt Everest for a record 17 times. He first climbed the mountain 2004.

Most nationalities on Everest in one season:
Climbers from 46 countries reached the summit of Mt Everest in the spring of 2013.

First tweet from the Everest summit:
Americal explorer Eric Larsen is believed to be the first person to post a tweet from the summit of Mt Everest. Larsent tweeted “Everest summit!” accompanied by a description of the gadget used to tweet from the summit. Larsen used DeLormeGPS Earthmate PN-60w, a handheld device that can send short text messages from anywhere in the world by relaying them through a satellite.

Everest summit! -Sent with @DeLormeGPS Earthmate PN-60w

— Eric Larsen (@ELexplore) October 15, 2010