Nepali mountaineer Appa Sherpa broke his own world record by summitting Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for a breathtaking seventeenth time.(AFP/File/Devendra M. Singh)
Posted on 05/16/2007 12:00:00 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
KATMANDU, Nepal - A veteran Sherpa guide scaled Mount Everest for a record 17th time Wednesday, beating his own previous record, mountaineering officials said.
Appa, who goes by one name, reached the 29,035-foot summit with seven other Sherpas and a Western climber, said Ang Tshering, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
Appa, 46, is one of the most respected climbers in the mountaineering community. His closest competitor — fellow Sherpa guide Chewang Nima, 41 — scaled the peak a 14th time last year.
Appa, who now lives with his family in Utah, was leading a team calling themselves the "Super Sherpas Expedition" on a charity climb to raise education funds for children of the Nepalese mountain guides.
He and his teammates had set out to make a documentary about the climb and all money raised will go toward providing better education and health care for children in their community at the foothills of the mountain.
Like most Sherpas, Appa grew up in the foothills of Everest, and began carrying equipment and supplies for trekkers and mountaineers at an early age.
He made his first summit of Everest in 1989 and has been climbing almost every year since.
Sherpas were mostly yak herders and traders living in the Himalayas until Nepal opened its borders to tourism in 1950. Their stamina and knowledge of the mountains make them expert guides and porters for foreign mountaineers.
Nepali mountaineer Appa Sherpa broke his own world record by summitting Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for a breathtaking seventeenth time.(AFP/File/Devendra M. Singh)
Super Sherpa expedition web site: http://www.supersherpas.com
Appa, who now lives with his family in Utah...
WTF.
We’re now importing Sherpas???
Any climber on the forum ever climb a big 'un?
General view of 8,848 metre (29,028 feet) high Mount Everest (C), 28 November 2006. A Nepali mountaineer, Appa Sherpa, broke his own world record Wednesday by summitting Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for a staggering seventeenth time.(AFP/File/Sam Taylor)
As long as he immigrated legaly, which I assume, why not?
I’m lucky to get up the stairs.
He’s just here doing work that Americans refuse to do./sarcasm off
Seriously, I would think that any one of the sherpas would be highly sought after by schools or companies involved in mountaineering.
Showoff! :-)
He takes his morning jog over King's Peak every day.
Because it’s still there.
I think he is just making a mountain out of a mole hill!
Everest has a fatality rate around 8%. 186 people have died trying to reach the summit, and many of the corpses are still lying along the routes to the summit.
But until Europeans came along, none of them had ever been to the summit of Everest?
I have no objection to Sherpa immigration to the USA. Especially when they're as accomplished and highly motivated as Appa.
I wouldn't be surprised if he was sponsored for a work visa by one of the mountaineering schools.
8% ?
I don’t know the history of Everest that well to answer that, good question. Sounds like a few may have been of hardy enough stock to do it with the luck of good weather and such..
I get over 25,000 feet, just put a mimosa in one hand and earphones in the other, I’m good.
I read once that none of them had ever even considered it because they saw no point in risking their lives without reason.
The first two people to summit Everest were Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.
It takes a pretty massive expedition/assault style trek to get to the summit of Everest. E. Hilary was the first human to summit— not even the locals could do it (or perhaps would want to) until anglos came along.
I found this little tidbit at mounteverest.net:
Today, Everest has hosted close to 2,000 successful summits. 179 people have perished giving a fatality rate of 9.3% (fatality rate is defined as successful summits compared to fatalities). However, since 1990 there has been an explosion of summiteers and fatality statistics have changed. Up to 1990 the Everest fatality rate is a whopping 37%, yet from 1990 until today the rate has dropped to 4.4%.
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