On Sunday morning, May 17, 2026, two climbers made history on Mount Everest. Kami Rita Sherpa, 52 years old, reached the summit at 10:12 a.m., achieving his 32nd successful climb. Just 42 minutes earlier, Lhakpa Sherpa, also 52, had arrived at the peak for her 11th time. Both broke world records that morning.
Kami Rita was born in Thame, a small village in Nepal's Solukhumbu district. This village is famous for producing Tenzing Norgay, who first climbed Everest with Edmund Hillary in 1953. Kami Rita has been climbing the mountain almost every year since 1994, missing only three seasons when the mountain was closed.
Lhakpa Sherpa comes from a different region, the Makalu area of Sankhuwasabha district. She became the first Nepali woman to reach the summit in 2000. Since then, she has climbed Everest ten more times and even summited K2, the world's second-highest mountain, in 2023.
The spring 2026 season was record-breaking for Nepal, with 492 climbing permits issued. Hundreds of climbers were on the mountain that day, but only these two Sherpas broke world records. Together, they showed the remarkable history of their mountain and their country.