Biography of Kami Rita Sherpa

Kami Rita, a Nepali Sherpa guide, has held the record for most ascents to the summit of Mount Everest since May 2018. He recently scaled the mountain for the 30th time on 22 May 2024, breaking his own record set on 12 May 2024.

Rita’s father was one of the first professional Sherpa guides after Everest was opened to foreign mountaineers in 1950. In 2017, he was the third person to reach the summit of Mount Everest 21 times, sharing the record with Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi Sherpa.

In 2018, at age 48, he became the first person to climb Mount Everest 22 times, achieving the record for the most summits on the 8,848-meter peak. He plans to scale Everest 25 times before retirement and completed his 30th summit on 22 May 2024. Rita also holds the record for most 8,000-meter summits, with 40 total.

Kami Rita (कामीरिता शेर्पा)
Born	January 17, 1970 (age 54) Thame, Solukhumbu District, Nepal
Occupation	Nepali Sherpa guide
Years Active	1992–present
Spouse	Lakpa Jangmu
Children	2

Career

Kami Rita Sherpa, a Nepalese climber, began his career on Mount Everest in 1992, assisting a Base Camp cook. He later worked as a porter and scaled Everest at age 24. In 2018, Rita revealed that the government did not support the Sherpas, despite their fame and international recognition. Despite the safety of climbing due to advanced equipment and weather forecasts, the occupation remains dangerous due to deep crevasses and unpredictable slopes. Sherpas account for one-third of Everest deaths.

In 2018, Rita earned $10,000 for each Everest climb due to his extensive experience. He now works for Seven Summit Treks and Alpine Ascents International and serves as a brand ambassador and chief adventure consultant for the Himalayan Glacier Adventure and Travel Company. He has no plans to retire as long as his body can handle the climbing. Rita is also a brand ambassador for a cement product, Brij Super Premium OPC, manufactured in Nepal.

Another Kami Rita Sherpa, who completed his 16th summit in 2017, also works on Everest. Rita broke his own record with his 25th ascent in 2021 and 26th in 2022. He reclaimed his title with his 27th ascent in 2023 and surpassed it with his 28th in 2024. He also scaled Everest twice more, extending his record to 30.

Personal Life

Rita was born and grew up in Thame, a small village in the Solukhumbu district of Nepal, living with his large family in a one-room house. Thame is also the birthplace of other famous mountaineering Sherpas, including Tenzing Norgay, who (alongside Sir Edmund Hillary) achieved the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. In his youth, he had considered becoming a monk and spent some time at the Thame Dechen Chokhorling monastery but decided not to proceed with this vocation.

A 2018 report stated that Rita lives with his wife, Lakpa Jangmu, and two children in Kathmandu. He has ensured that his children are getting an education to enable them to choose occupations that are less dangerous than guiding mountaineers. “We were illiterate and poor, and there were no other means of survival [back then]. As a result, we were compelled to climb dangerous mountains to eke out a living,” he told a journalist.

In another 2018 report, Lakpa Jangmu is quoted as saying that she wished that her husband would retire from mountaineering. “I keep telling him we could look for other jobs and start a small business. But he does not listen to me at all.” She also confirmed that their children will not become mountain guides.

Everest Expeditions

Everest Summits and Attempts