By Kelly Bjornstad
On May 23rd, climber Kami Rita reached the top of mount everest for the 28th time, shattering his own record within a weeks time. On Wednesday, May 17th, he conquered the mountain for the 27th time. AP News states that Rita reached the summit at “9:20 a.m. local time Tuesday, according to expedition organizer Seven Summits Treks.”
Now 53 years old, his first climb was in 1994, making him just 24 years old when he first conquered the world’s tallest peak. Rita has climbed several other notable peaks as well. Fox News writes that Rita has reached the tops of K-2, Cho-Oyu, Manaslu and Lhotse. The K-2 is the second tallest mountain in the world, standing at 28,251 feet tall. Mount Everest currently stands at 29,029 feet tall, and Cho-Oyu, Manaslu, and Lhotse tower over their surroundings at 26 and 27 thousand feet tall. For reference, 35,000 feet is the height at which commercial airplanes fly. The height of the biggest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Nepal, could be stacked on top of itself more than 14 times to reach the height of mount everest.
High Adventure Expeditions cites “6,338 different people have climbed Mount Everest and reached the summit, as of January 2023.” This makes Kami RIta pretty extraordinary, to have summited the mountain 28 times in counting out of a mere 6,000 throughout history. Garrett Madison, American Climber that has been at Kami’s side for 5 ascents now, says “Very inspirational to see a local climber continue pushing the limits on Mount Everest,”
Kami Rita is a resident of Solukhumbu district in eastern Nepal, born in the 70s. According to High Adventure Expeditions, Nepal, the US, and India are the 3 countries with the most Everest-climbers. Out of all those who have climbed Mount Everest, 1,756 summits have belonged to climbers from Nepal.
Currently, Rita is a climbing guide at the Seven Summit Treks in Kathmandu- Capital of Nepal. Over 4 years ago In a BBC interview, Rita said “I am healthy. I can go until I am 60 years old. With oxygen it’s no big deal, we were born in the Himalayas.” Adding, “I never thought about making records. I actually didn’t know that you could make a record. Had I known, I would have done a lot more summits earlier.”
It’s difficult to grasp the idea that a human being could climb such an intimidating mountain so many times, and feel confident to do so until 60 years old. 29,029 feet tall, 28 times. Stories and records from people like Kami Rita are exactly what inspire new accomplishments, although I don’t know when the next climber to conquer Mount Everest 28 times will come along.
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