Set a world record by leading a Vietnamese billionaire to climb Mount Everest

Nepalese Kami Rita set a record of 27 times conquering Mount Everest when guiding Vietnamese billionaire Chinh Chu to climb the world's highest mountain.

"He successfully conquered Mount Everest this morning while guiding a Vietnamese climber," Mingma Sherpa, representative of Seven Summit Treks, the organization that organized the mountain climbing trip, said on May 17.

According to HimalayaTimes , Kami Rita's companion on this trip is Chinh Chu, a Vietnamese-American billionaire who founded CC Capital Group and owns assets of about 1.2 billion USD.

Kami Rita, 53, has held the record for the most ascents of Everest since 2018, when he reached the summit for the 22nd time. However, that record has been broken several times since then, and the most recent holder of the title was Pasang Dawa, 46, when he reached the summit for the 26th time on May 14.

With his 27th summit this morning, Kami once again rose to number one.

Kami Rita Sherpa, 53, at Solukhumbu base camp, Mount Everest, May 2. Photo: AFP — Kami Rita at Solukhumbu base camp, Mount Everest, May 2. Photo: *AFP*

A mountain guide for more than two decades, Kami first climbed the mountain in 1994 while working with a commercial expedition. Since then, he has summited Everest almost every year.

"I didn't set records on purpose, I just created them while working as a guide," he said last month while visiting a base camp on Everest.

Kami was born in 1970 in Thame, a Himalayan village known for its famous mountaineering. He is also known as the “Everest Man”. His father and older brother worked as guides for expeditions to conquer Mount Everest, and Kami quickly followed in their footsteps.

Nepal is home to eight of the world's 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest at 8,849 metres, and welcomes hundreds of climbers each spring when the weather is warm and the winds are calm.

Nepalese authorities have issued 478 permits to foreign climbers to climb Mount Everest this year, charging $11,000. The total cost of a single climb ranges from $45,000 to $200,000.