Everest: British mountaineer Kenton Cool makes his 20th ascent and breaks his own record

This Friday, for the 20th time, British mountaineer and mountain guide Kenton Cool climbed Everest, breaking his own record for the most ascents of the roof of the world by a non-Nepalese.

“We learned that he reached the summit of Everest early Friday morning,” Khim Lal Gautam, representative of the Nepalese government, told AFP.

Victim of a serious climbing accident in 1996, Kenton Cool thought he would no longer be able to walk without assistance due to a fracture in both heels. It was in 2004 that he succeeded, for the first time, in climbing the summit of the Himalayas; a feat that he has wanted to repeat every year since.

A “not so impressive” record, according to the Briton

In 2022, during an interview with AFP, the mountaineer declared that his record was “not so impressive” compared to the performances of Nepalese mountaineers.

At least seven of them have more than 20 summits to their credit, often Sherpas: Nepalese mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa, 56, nicknamed “the man of Everest”, reached the summit of Everest for the 32nd time on May 17, thus breaking his own world record, as did Lhakpa Sherpa, 52, who also broke his own record in the women’s category with a 11th ascent the same day.

A passion at risk

This season, the country issued a record 492 permits to climb Everest. A real tent village has been set up at the foot of the mountain to accommodate mountaineers and Sherpas.

This Wednesday, 275 climbers reached the summit of Everest in a single day; a record number according to the Ministry of Tourism. However, these waves of ascents have revived concerns about overcrowding on the Mount, especially when the weather window is short.

Indeed, this concern is justified by the death of three Nepalese mountaineers since the start of the season.