Kami Rita Sherpa, who has held the record for most ascents to the summit of Mt Everest, has a contender now.

Pasang Dawa Sherpa reached the summit of the world’s highest peak on Sunday morning, for his 26th successful climb on the world’s highest peak, according to his expedition organiser Imagine Nepal Treks.

With this ascent, Pasang Dawa has matched the record set by Kami Rita, said Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, managing director of Imagine Nepal Trek and Expeditions, the expedition agency responsible for preparing the route to the summit this year.

The 46-year-old Pasang Dawa reached the summit at 9:06 am local time on Sunday, he said.

Born in Pangboche, a village near the Everest base camp, Pasang Dawa first summited Everest in 1998.

He recorded a single climb on Everest in 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017.

He climbed Everest twice in 2001, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2022.

Meanwhile, Kami Rita, 53, who held the record for the most climbs of Everest after his 26th successful summit last year, has also announced to climb the peak this month to take the count to a new world record of 27.

This year’s Everest climbing bids started on Saturday.

A team of nine Nepali high-altitude climbing guides reached the summit of Mt Everest on Saturday afternoon, making it the first spring ascent of the world’s tallest peak this year.

They were part of a rope-fixing team who prepared the routes up to the summit from Camp 2, making the path easy for foreign climbers.

The rope-fixing team reached the summit at 01:52 pm on Saturday.

This spring, the Department of Tourism has issued Everest climbing permits to a record 478 fee-paying individuals, the highest number on record, said Bigyan Koirala, an official at the department.

“The issuance of permits has almost ended for this season,” he said.

In 2021, Nepal’s Department of Tourism issued a record 409 Everest permits. The number dropped to 325 in 2022 as the Russia-Ukraine war prevented potential climbers from Russia, Ukraine, Poland and some European countries from coming to Nepal.

As China has created a new rule requiring its citizens to climb an 8,000-metre peak before making an attempt on Everest from the Chinese side, Chinese climbers came to Nepal in droves, Mingma Sherpa, chairman of Seven Summit Treks, Nepal's largest expedition organiser, told the Post in a recent interview.

There has, however, been concerns about the erratic weather condition.

“It’s snowing on Everest making it a bit difficult this Spring,” said Mingma Gyalje. “The first good weather window is expected to last until May 19,” he said.

According to him, 10 people—five foreigners and five sherpa climbing guides—successfully climbed Everest on Sunday.

There are around 90 climbers—40 foreigners—preparing to make a summit push on Sunday midnight, he said.

Expedition organisers say fresh snow is dangerous. Everest has already claimed four lives this season.

On April 12, tonnes of ice masses moved downhill and buried three sherpa guides underneath in the season’s first accident on the world’s tallest peak. On May 1, an American doctor died during his acclimatisation rotation at Camp II of Everest.

A climbing permit for Everest costs $11,000 for foreigners. But climbers end up spending between $40,000 and $90,000 to climb the mountain.

An experienced climbing guide makes as much as $12,000 during the 45-day Everest season, where the good weather window is normally available for two weeks in a year.

A normal or beginner guide earns $7,000 per season, while high-altitude porters earn up to $4,000 per season. Even the income of a porter is five times greater than the average income of Nepalis.

Close to 7,000 mountaineers have climbed Everest from the Nepal side since Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and New Zealander Edmund Percival Hillary first set foot atop the world's highest peak in May 1953.