Phurba Tashi Sherpa reached the summit of Mount Everest summit for the 21st time on Thursday, equalling the record set by Apa Sherpa.
According to mountaineering officials, Phurba Tashi made two climbs this season to complete the feat.
Last year, Apa, who goes by his first name, said he was retiring. However, he has since been back at the base camp, continuing his campaign of clearing garbage from the Everest region.
Meanwhile, the government of Nepal at its cabinet meeting on Thursday decided to provide Rs1mn ($11, 235.9) to Guinness World Record holder Min Bahadur Sherchan, an official at the prime minister’s office said.
“Today’s cabinet meeting decided to provide Rs1mn to Min Bahadur Sherchan for his attempt to scale Mount Everest to defend his record,” Rajendra Pandey, press co-ordinator of Khila Raj Regmi, chairman of interim election government of Nepal, said.
Sherchan, 82, is at the Everest base camp to defend his record as the oldest climber atop the tallest mountain of the world. The government decided to provide the money on the same day Japanese climber broke Sherchan’s record as the oldest person to successfully scale Mount Everest.
Sherchan was awaiting cabinet decision for a help of Rs1mn from Nepal government. It costs close to $40,000 for one attempt, a huge amount for a Nepali where per capita income is around $420.
Sherchan set the record of the oldest climber in 2008 when he climbed Mt Everest at the age of 76 years 10 months.