21-time Mt. Qomolangma summitter awarded with Guinness World Record

Appa Sherpa

Nepal’s mountaineering legend Appa Sherpa was awarded with Guinness World Record (GWR) for climbing the highest mountain Mt. Qomolangma for 21 times on Monday.

GWR officials, who were in town since Saturday, took the opportunity of their arrival in Nepal to award Sherpa with the GWR award.

The 52-year-old Sherpa, who started to climb the mountains as a porter, holds the record as the only man in the world to ascend the Mt. Qomolangma for 21 times.

Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of the GWR, hailed Appa Sherpa as “a hero of the world”.

“It is an honor and a great privilege to hand over the certificate to Sherpa as he has proved that how much a person can do,” Glenday said.

While receiving the award, Appa Sherpa expressed his happiness and praised the GWR officers for being together with him since past 10 years.

“I am honored to receive this award from the chief of the GWR,” Sherpa said.

He also said that he will encourage a younger generation to follow his footsteps for the national sake.

Sherpa, with his other three colleagues, is on another mission of trekking all along the “Great Himalayan Trail”, a 120 days trekking with the purpose of enhancing awareness about the impacts of climate change on the Himalayas.

The total length of the trekking measures 1,700 km from East to West of Nepal and will take approximately 120 days to complete. <Xinhua/Sweta Baniya>

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