Kami Rita Sherpa, who holds the record of the most ascents of Everest by any individual, is all set for double ascent in a single season.

“He left the Everest base camp on Sunday to climb the world’s highest peak twice in a single season,” Khim Lal Gautam, base camp coordinator of the government, told the Post over the phone.

“Kami Rita, 53, is unstoppable.”

On May 17, Kami Rita reached the top of Everest for the 27th time.

Kami Rita completed his first climb of Everest on May 13, 1994, aged 24 and has scaled it nearly every year since it was permitted.

His mountaineering journey; however, began in 1992 when he joined an expedition team to Everest as a porter. It was only on May 13, 1994, he summited Everest for the first time as a high-altitude worker.

He climbed Everest twice in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2019.

Kami Rita now works as a guide for Seven Summit Treks.

Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, managing director of Seven Summit Treks, said as per the plan Kami Rita plans to reach the summit on May 23.

“He has been mobilised to support an international team.”

Kami Rita says climbing Everest is his passion.

“There’s a lot of records being broken these days. People think breaking records is the only thing that matters but for me it was never about records in the beginning, it was my necessity to earn a living and when time moved climbing became my passion, I just went with the flow,” Kami Rita wrote on his Instagram page recently.

“I didn’t realise I was making a historic record. After all this, I still feel and take climbing as my passion.”

This year, the Department of Tourism has issued Everest permits to a record 478 fee-paying individuals. Nepali high-altitude guides assisting climbers are not required to pay fees.

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

A climbing permit for Everest costs $11,000 for foreigners. But climbers spend between $40,000 and $90,000 to attempt the mountain.

Meanwhile, Hari Budha Magar, who lost his legs while serving in Afghanistan, became the first double above-knee amputee to conquer Mt Everest.

According to Gautam, Magar, 43, reached the summit on Friday.

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.