A British mountaineer has established a new milestone for foreign climbers by successfully reaching the summit of Mount Everest for the 20th time, according to hiking officials in Nepal.
Kenton Cool, age 52, conquered the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) summit in the early morning hours on Friday and was making his way down to lower camps, according to Ishwori Poudel from the expedition organizing company Himalayan Guides.
An expedition organizer who has climbed Everest four times described Cool as someone who is “quietly rewriting the record books.” Lukas Furtenbach of the Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures company praised the achievement.
“More Everest summits than any non-Sherpa ever… and still making it look like just another walk in the hills. Absolute legend,” Furtenbach told Reuters from the base camp. Cool climbed with one of Furtenbach’s teams.
Cool, whose initial Everest climb took place in 2004 and who has returned annually except during years when authorities shut down the mountain for various reasons, emphasized that reaching Everest’s peak is never routine.
“It never gets any easier or any less frightening. It’s the tallest mountain in the world and with it comes an incredible sense of majesty,” Cool said in a statement.
“I rely on every bit of experience I have to move safely in this environment. Standing on the summit for the twentieth time is incredibly special.”
A Nepali Sherpa, Kami Rita, holds the overall record for most Everest summits at 32.
More than 8,000 people have successfully climbed Everest, with many completing multiple ascents, since New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay first reached the top in 1953.
