SANGAM

Apa 20-time Everester now
SANGAM PRASAIN
KATHMANDU, MAY 22 -
Apa Sherpa broke his own world record by scaling Mount Everest for the 20th time on Saturday. The 50-year-old, nicknamed ‘Super Sherpa’, created another milestone at 8:34 a.m.

Also the SAARC goodwill ambassador for climate change, Apa carried the Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign flag and WWF banner with the slogan ‘You Heard Our Voice, Now Raise Yours - We Can Stop Climate Change in the Himalayas’ to draw international attention to the tourism campaign and global warming.

Apa started from Camp IV at 12 Midnight on Friday and reached the summit along with 14 Eco Everest Expedition members on Saturday morning, said Ang Tshering Sherpa, chairman of Asian Trekking Pvt. Ltd. The record holder first scaled the highest peak at his fourth attempt on May 10, 1990. He then began his career as Sirdar, or chief Sherpa, for many high altitude expeditions.

Originally from the Thame village in Nepal and living in the USA since 2006, Apa has climbed Everest for eight straight years since 2002. He has reached the summit every year between 1990 and 2010, bar 1996 and 2001; all but three times have been in May, and in 1992, he reached the summit twice.

It was on 21 May 2009, Apa broke his own record by reaching the summit of Everest for the 19th time as a member of the Expedition, led by Bill Burke, whose purpose was to raise awareness about climate change.

Similarly, Apa’s website, prepared in anticipation of reaching the summit, says, “I am thankful to have been able to climb Mount Everest for the 20th time. I climbed this year to raise awareness about the Apa Sherpa Foundation, which is dedicated to increasing educational opportunities for people in the Himalayan Region. I also climbed to bring attention to the damage done to the Himalayas because of global climate change.”

On Saturday, 67 summiteers scaled Mt. Everest. “With a good weather, there were 29 foreigners and 38 Nepali climbers,” said Tilak Pandey, a liaison officer at the Everest base camp.

This spring, over 82 mountaineering expeditions have received permits to make an attempt on different Himalayan peaks.