Kami Rita

Kami Rita Sherpa (Nepali: कामीरिता शेर्पा, romanized: Kāmīritā Śerpā; born 17 January 1970) is a Nepalese Sherpa guide who holds the record for most ascents to the summit of Mount Everest. He has held the record since May 2018. Most recently, he scaled Everest for the 32nd time on 17 May 2026, breaking his own record set on 27 May 2025. His father was among the first professional Sherpa guides after Everest was opened to foreign mountaineers in 1950. His brother Lakpa Rita, also a guide, has scaled Everest 17 times. In 2017, Rita was the third person to reach the summit of Mount Everest 21 times, sharing this record with Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi Sherpa. The latter two subsequently retired. On 16 May 2018, at age 48, Rita became the first person in the world to climb Mount Everest 22 times, achieving the record of the most summits on the 8,848-meter (29,031-foot) peak. In April of that year, he told the news media that he planned to scale Everest 25 times before retirement, "not just for myself but for my family, the Sherpa people and for my country, Nepal"; He completed his 31st summit of Everest on 27 May 2025. In addition to his Everest summits, his totals include Cho-Oyu eight times (2001, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016), Lhotse (2011), K2 (2014) and Manaslu (2023).