A veteran Sherpa guide has scaled Mount Everest for the 28th time, beating his own record.
Kami Rita reached the summit at 9.20am local time on Tuesday, according to expedition organiser Seven Summits Treks.
His latest climb comes a day after fellow Sherpa guide Pasang Dawa matched his record of 27 trips to the summit.
The two guides have been competing with each other for the title of most climbs of the world’s highest peak.
The race for the title began with Mr Dawa climbing the peak for the 26th time on 14 May, matching Mr Rita’s previous record.
Three days later Mr Rita went back to climb the mountain for the 27th time.
Mr Rita first took on the challenge of Mount Everest in 1994 and has been making the trip nearly every year since.
Kami Rita has climbed Everest almost every year since 1994. Pic: AP
In addition to his Everest climbs, Mr Rita has tackled several other peaks including, K2, Cho Oyu, Manaslu and Lhotse.
As it is currently the spring climbing season, both Sherpa guides were on the mountain helping their clients up the snowy peaks.
Sherpa guides carry vital skills to keep foreign climbers, who seek to stand on top of the mountain, safe.
This month, hundreds of climbers have scaled Mount Everest, with Nepalese authorities issuing about 480 climbing permits to foreign climbers – the most issued for any year.
According to AP News, so far, 10 people have died during this year’s spring climb.
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Mount Everest is the highest peak in the Himalayan mountains on the border of Nepal and Tibet.
The mountain is also known as Chomolungma, which means “Mother of Goddess of the World” and Sagarmatha, which means “Goddess of the Sky”.
Climbing Mount Everest can be a dangerous undertaking, with the snow and ice and the potential for avalanches and other difficult weather conditions.
As most climbers are not used to high altitudes and low oxygen levels, they may rely on oxygen bottles.
According to the National Geographic, this is why the area above 8,000m (26,000ft) elevation on Everest is called the “death zone”.
