KATHMANDU: Kami Rita Sherpa, born January 17, 1970, in the mountain village of Thame in Solukhumbu, Nepal, grew up in the shadow of the world’s tallest peak. His father was among the first professional Sherpa guides after Nepal opened its borders to foreign climbers in 1950.

Kami Rita followed that path, starting as a porter and base camp cook’s assistant in 1992 before making his first Everest summit in 1994 at age 24. Over three decades, he built an unmatched record as a high-altitude guide, scaling Everest almost every spring season, often twice, and summiting other 8,000-meter giants including Cho Oyu (eight times), Lhotse (once), K2 (once), and Manaslu (multiple times).

Known globally as the “Everest Man,” he has stated that the 2026 climb may be his last on the world’s highest peak.

January 17, 1970: Kami Rita Sherpa is born in Thame, a high-altitude village sitting at roughly 3,800 meters in the Solukhumbu district of Nepal, the heartland of the Sherpa climbing community. His family lives in a one-room house. His father, already an early Sherpa guide, is among the first to escort foreign expeditions after Nepal opened its borders in 1950.

Around 1982: At approximately 12 years old, Kami Rita begins hauling gear to Everest Base Camp as a porter, his first exposure to the high Himalayan terrain that will define his entire life.

1990: Nepal fully lifts restrictions on commercial mountaineering on Everest, opening the door to the guided-expedition era that will fuel the careers of an entire generation of Sherpa guides.

1992: Kami Rita joins an Everest expedition as an assistant to the base camp cook, his formal entry into the mountaineering world. His older brother Lakpa Rita, already an experienced sirdar, brings him along. Kami Rita does not summit that season but gains his first experience navigating the mountain’s lower camps.

1993: Kami Rita begins working as a climbing Sherpa in an official capacity, accompanying expeditions as a load carrier and route support staff on high-altitude peaks in the Khumbu region. He trains under the guidance of experienced senior Sherpas.

May 13, 1994: At age 24, Kami Rita Sherpa reaches the summit of Mount Everest for the first time, via the South Col and Southeast Ridge route from the Nepal side. He is working as a high-altitude worker as part of a commercial expedition team. This step begins a career ascent record that will reshape mountaineering history.

1995: Kami Rita attempts Everest again, reaching as high as 8,500 meters but does not summit. This setback sharpens his resolve and deepens his technical understanding of the peak’s upper reaches.

May 25, 1997: Kami Rita returns to Everest and summits for the second time, again via the South Col and Southeast Ridge. He has now climbed the world’s highest peak twice in four years, cementing his place as a reliable and capable high-altitude guide.

May 25, 1998: Third Everest summit for Kami Rita, once again using the South Col and Southeast Ridge route. He is becoming one of the most consistently active guides working on the mountain’s south side.

May 13, 1999: Kami Rita reaches the top of Everest for the fourth time, this time on the same calendar date as his very first summit exactly five years earlier. Nepal’s mountaineering industry is growing, and experienced guides like him are in high demand.

May 23, 2000: Fifth Everest summit for Kami Rita. He has now climbed the world’s highest peak five times in seven seasons, a pace that marks him as one of the most active and dependable guides on the mountain.

May 25, 2001: Sixth Everest summit. Kami Rita also stands on the top of Cho Oyu (8,188 m), the sixth-highest mountain in the world, for the first time this year. The Cho Oyu ascent begins a long relationship with that peak that will bring him to its top eight times across his career.

May 25, 2002: Seventh Everest summit for Kami Rita, again via the South Col and Southeast Ridge. He is now working regularly as a sirdar, or head Sherpa, leading teams of climbing Sherpas and shouldering greater responsibility for expedition logistics and safety.

May 30, 2003: Kami Rita reaches the Everest summit for the eighth time. On May 29, the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first ascent by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, and Nepal’s mountaineering community stands at the center of global attention.

May 24, 2004: Ninth Everest summit. Kami Rita also makes his second ascent of Cho Oyu this year, continuing to build his portfolio of high-altitude summits beyond Everest.

May 30, 2005: Tenth Everest summit for Kami Rita. Having now reached the top of the world’s highest peak ten times, he has quietly matched the career summit total of Ang Rita Sherpa, the celebrated climber who had scaled Everest without supplemental oxygen through the 1980s and 1990s.

May 20, 2006: Eleventh Everest summit. Kami Rita also makes his third ascent of Cho Oyu this year. His dual-peak seasons reflect his growing status as one of Nepal’s most productive high-altitude guides.

May 22, 2007: Twelfth Everest summit. Kami Rita continues guiding international clients, fixing ropes, carrying oxygen, and leading teams through the dangerous Khumbu Icefall and up the Lhotse Face.

May 24, 2008: Thirteenth Everest summit for Kami Rita. He is now clearly in a category of his own when it comes to repeat Everest ascents, surpassing every climber then active on the mountain.

May 5, 2009: Kami Rita climbs Everest for the 14th time, his first of two ascents in the 2009 season.

May 23, 2009: Fifteenth Everest summit. He summits a second time in the same spring season, a remarkable physical feat. He also makes his fourth ascent of Cho Oyu this year.

May 5, 2010: Sixteenth Everest summit, the first of two in the 2010 spring season.

May 24, 2010: Kami Rita stands atop Everest for the 17th time, completing back-to-back double seasons on the mountain in 2009 and 2010.

May 18, 2012: Nineteenth Everest summit for Kami Rita, via the South Col and Southeast Ridge. He is now the holder of the most Everest ascents by any active climber, with no rival anywhere close to his total.

May 10, 2013: Twentieth Everest summit. Kami Rita begins the 2013 double season with this ascent, his 20th time standing on top of the world’s highest peak.

May 22, 2013: Twenty-first Everest summit, completing his second double season of 2013. At 21 summits, he ties the all-time record then shared by the retired Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi Sherpa. Kami Rita also makes his sixth ascent of Cho Oyu this year.

April 18, 2014: A catastrophic avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall kills 16 Sherpa guides, making it one of the deadliest single days in Everest history. Among the dead is one of Kami Rita’s relatives. He and his brother Lakpa are among the first on the scene. The disaster triggers a Sherpa-led boycott of the season and a wider reckoning about safety, compensation, and the risks borne by guides.

2014: Despite the tragedy of April, Kami Rita goes on to make his 22nd Everest summit. He also climbs K2 (8,611 m), the second-highest mountain in the world and widely considered its most technically demanding, and makes his seventh ascent of Cho Oyu. The K2 summit signals the true breadth of his high-altitude expertise.

April 25, 2015: A massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal, triggering an avalanche that kills 19 people at Everest Base Camp. Kami Rita is on the mountain and survives. The climbing season is immediately halted, and Everest is closed for the rest of 2015. It is one of the most traumatic events of his career.

May 20, 2016: Kami Rita returns to Everest after the earthquake-forced year off and reaches the summit for the 23rd time, this time via the North Col and Northeast Ridge from the Tibet side. He also makes his eighth and final Cho Oyu ascent this year, completing what will be a career total of eight summits on that peak.

May 27, 2017: Twenty-fourth Everest summit for Kami Rita, by the South Col and Southeast Ridge. With Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi both retired, Kami Rita stands as the sole active holder of the all-time record. His brother Lakpa Rita, who has climbed Everest 17 times, remains one of the other celebrated figures in the climbing family.

May 16, 2018: Kami Rita Sherpa stands alone atop Everest for his 22nd unique season visit and 25th? total ascent in the verified timeline — but more precisely, he becomes the first person in history to climb Everest 22 times (overall), officially breaking the shared record. He is 48 years old. Nepal celebrates, and global mountaineering media takes notice. He holds the solo world record for the first time.

April 2018: Speaking to reporters in the lead-up to and aftermath of his record-breaking season, Kami Rita speaks openly about the challenges facing Sherpa guides, saying the government does not adequately support those who risk their lives on the mountain. He is earning approximately $10,000 per Everest climb at this point, reflecting his senior status and unmatched experience.

May 15, 2019: Kami Rita summits Everest for the 23rd time? (adjusted per timeline), via the South Col and Southeast Ridge, his first of two historic ascents within the same week.

May 21, 2019: Just six days after his previous ascent, Kami Rita stands on top of Everest again, completing one of the most remarkable one-week stretches in the mountain’s climbing history. The double summit further extends his world record.

2020: Nepal closes Everest and all its high peaks to foreign climbers due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first time in many years that Kami Rita does not make a spring ascent, not by choice but by necessity. No summit is completed from the Nepal side in 2020.

May 7, 2021: Everest reopens and Kami Rita is back, reaching the summit on May 7 for the 25th time. The ascent extends his world record and demonstrates that even after a forced pandemic break, his abilities at extreme altitude remain extraordinary.

May 7, 2022: Kami Rita summits Everest for the 26th time, again on May 7, continuing his streak of record extensions. He is 52 years old and still climbing with the precision and strength of someone far younger.

May 17, 2023: Kami Rita reaches the summit of Everest for the 27th time, retaking sole possession of the record after his closest rival Pasang Dawa Sherpa had matched his 26-summit tally earlier in the season. The 27th ascent puts distance between them once more.

May 23, 2023: Six days after his 27th, Kami Rita climbs Everest again for the 28th time, completing his second ascent of the 2023 season and extending his record by yet another notch. He becomes the first person in history to reach the Everest summit 28 times.

2023: Kami Rita also summits Manaslu (8,163 m) for the first time this year (or around this period), adding Nepal’s eighth-highest peak to his growing list of 8,000-meter summits. Over subsequent seasons he will expand his Manaslu total (reports vary between 4–5 ascents by 2026 records).

May 12, 2024: Kami Rita reaches the top of Everest for the 29th time at 7:25 a.m., guiding foreign clients for Seven Summit Treks. Speaking to reporters afterward, he says he is glad for the record but that records are eventually broken, and that what truly makes him happy is knowing his climbs bring recognition to Nepal.

May 22, 2024: Just ten days after his 29th ascent, Kami Rita stands on the Everest summit again for the 30th time at 7:49 a.m., completing his second ascent of the 2024 season. He becomes the first and only person in history to summit Everest 30 times. Kathmandu organizes a welcome ceremony on his return.

May 27, 2025: Kami Rita Sherpa summits Everest for the 31st time at approximately 4:00 a.m. local time, via the traditional Southeast Ridge from the Nepal side, guiding 22 mountaineers from the Indian Army Adventure Wing along with 27 other Sherpas for Seven Summit Treks. He had originally attempted to summit days earlier but was turned back by severe weather. The 31st ascent extends his record to a number no other climber in history has reached.

June 2025 / Late 2025: Kami Rita returns to Kathmandu to a hero’s welcome. Seven Summit Treks issues a statement calling him not just a national climbing hero but a global symbol of Everest itself. Guinness World Records formally recognizes his achievements, including 42 total 8,000-meter summits (as of late 2025). He now sits ahead of closest rival Pasang Dawa Sherpa.

Late 2025: Kami Rita travels to the United States for personal and professional engagements, spending several months away from Nepal before preparing for the 2026 spring climbing season.

January 17, 2026: Kami Rita turns 56. He has already begun signaling to journalists that he plans to attempt a 32nd Everest summit in the coming spring season and that this will very likely be his final effort on the world’s highest peak.

March 2026: Kami Rita returns to Kathmandu from the United States and begins preparation for the spring 2026 Everest expedition with 14 Peaks Expedition. He tells reporters that friends and family have urged him to retire for years, but his love for the mountains has kept him returning. He now acknowledges the time to step away from Everest is coming. “I am already 55,” he says (in prior statements). “After retiring from Everest climbing in 2026, I plan to continue trekking and other adventure activities.”

March to April 2026: Kami Rita works with the 14 Peaks Expedition team at base camp, assisting with logistics and acclimatization rotations for the expedition group before preparing his own summit push.

May 14, 2026: A large group of guides and clients leave Everest Base Camp for the first summit push of the season, hoping to take advantage of a weather window expected to open around May 17. High jet stream winds are still lashing the upper mountain, and the 2026 season has already seen deaths on the peak.

May 15–16, 2026: Climbers hold at Camps I and II as winds continue to hammer the upper mountain. Kami Rita and his team wait patiently for conditions to improve.

May 17, 2026, 10:12 a.m. Nepal Time: Kami Rita Sherpa reaches the summit of Mount Everest for the 32nd time, again via the Southeast Ridge route, leading an expedition organized by 14 Peaks Expedition. The ascent is confirmed by the Department of Tourism’s field office at Everest Base Camp. At 56 years old, he becomes the first person in history to summit Everest 32 times. On the same morning, Lhakpa Sherpa (the Mountain Queen) also reaches the top for her 11th time, making May 17, 2026 a landmark day in Nepali mountaineering history.

May 17, 2026, afternoon: 14 Peaks Expedition confirms the summit via social media, calling his achievement not only a personal milestone but a proud moment for Nepal and the global climbing community. Nepal’s Department of Tourism issues a formal statement praising his extraordinary contribution to the country’s mountaineering sector.

May 17, 2026: With his 32nd Everest summit, Kami Rita’s total of verified 8,000-meter peak ascents stands at more than 40 (previously recognized at 42 including prior totals), including 32 Everest summits, eight Cho Oyu summits, multiple Manaslu summits, one Lhotse summit, and one K2 summit. He holds the Guinness World Record for both the most Everest ascents and the most total true summits of 8,000-meter peaks by any individual in mountaineering history.