Nima Rinji Sherpa. , Photo Credit: AP
An 18-year-old Nepalese climber was welcomed as a hero by a cheering crowd as he returned home on Monday (October 15, 2024) after breaking the record of the youngest person to climb all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks.
Nima Rinji Sherpa reached Tibet’s 8,027-meter-high Shisha Pangma Peak on October 9, completing her mission to stand on the world’s highest peaks.
On Monday, he returned from China to Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, where a large number of people were waiting to see him.
“I’m very happy,” he said as he walked out of the airport to thunderous applause wearing a traditional Buddhist scarf and a garland of marigolds.
“Thank you all very much,” he told his supporters with a broad smile. She hugged her family while others rushed to give her scarves and flowers. Nepal’s mountaineering community also welcomed many more people who returned after completing the summit of 14 peaks.
Climbing all 14 “eight-thousanders” summits is considered the pinnacle of mountaineering aspirations, with all peaks located in the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges, which extend across Nepal, Pakistan, Tibet and India.
Climbers cross the “death zone” where there is not enough oxygen in the air to sustain human life for long.
Many distinguished climbers have died in this pursuit.
The young Sherpa is no stranger to the mountains, coming from a family of record-holding mountaineers who now also run Nepal’s largest mountaineering expedition company.
He began high-altitude climbing at the age of 16 by climbing Mount Manaslu in August 2022.
published – October 15, 2024 10:16 am IST