Kami Rita To Climb Everest Again
Kami Rita, the legendary Sherpa mountaineer, is set to climb Mount Everest for a record-breaking 31st time—and possibly even a 32nd—cementing his place in history.
You’d think after climbing Mount Everest thirty times, most folks would be content to kick off their boots, put the kettle on, and maybe potter about in the garden. Not Kami Rita. No, sir. The 55-year-old Sherpa mountaineer from Nepal is once again dusting off his crampons and heading back to the big icy behemoth for what could be his thirty-first and thirty-second ascents. Yes, you read that right — not once, not twice, but potentially thirty-two times up the world’s highest hillock.
On Sunday, while most of us were still trying to remember where we put our socks, Kami Rita flew out from Kathmandu to Everest Base Camp to lead a group of climbers who hope to tick off the 8,849-metre summit from their bucket lists — though one imagines they’re more likely to kick the bucket if he’s not around.
“I am mentally, emotionally and physically prepared to climb the mountain,” he told reporters at the airport, looking rather chipper for a man about to pop up into the death zone again. “I am in my top physical condition right now.” Well, lucky him. Most of us feel a bit faint just going up the stairs.
Now, don’t be mistaken — this isn’t just another stroll for Rita. He’s already the record-holder for the most successful Everest ascents, having bagged thirty of the blighters. Last May, just for a laugh, he did it twice in one season. It’s the sort of casual flex that makes the rest of us feel terribly inadequate.
But it’s not all about personal glory. “My first priority is to get my client to the summit of the peak,” he said with all the calm of a man picking up a pint of milk. “Then I will decide on whether I will climb the peak more than one time during the season. It depends on the weather and conditions on the mountain.” Which is a rather Everestian way of saying, we’ll see how we go, shall we?
Chomping at his crampon-clad heels is fellow Sherpa Pasang Dawa, who’s made 27 successful ascents — an impressive tally, but still a few snowy steps behind Rita’s record.
Kami Rita’s mountain-going ways began in 1994 and haven’t really let up since. His late father was one of the first Sherpa guides, so you could say the high-altitude bug runs in the family. Over the years, Rita’s racked up climbs on K2, Cho Oyu, Manaslu, and Lhotse — all of which are properly terrifying and best avoided by anyone who prefers their air with a bit more oxygen in it.
This spring season, Nepal’s Department of Tourism has handed out 214 climbing permits for Everest’s southern face — the busy side, if you will. Most climbs happen in April and May, when the weather is just about tolerable, and frostbite isn’t handed out like party favours.
Let’s not forget the chaps who first popped up there: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Back then, they made history. Now, thanks to the likes of Kami Rita, we’re watching that history being rewritten, one dizzying step at a time.
So here’s to Kami Rita — mountaineering maestro, Sherpa supremo, and living proof that some people really do take going above and beyond a bit too literally.
Godspeed, mate. And don’t forget your thermals.
At East India Story, we’re not just about what bleeds or leads. We’re about what inspires, surprises, and reminds us all that across mountains, cultures, —there’s more that connects us than divides us.
What's Your Reaction?
