Nepal's Kami Rita becomes third person to scale Mt. Everest 21 times

Kathmandu, May 28: Nepal's Kami Rita became the third person to scale Mount Everest 21 times after he reached the summit of the world's tallest mountain on Saturday morning, Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation confirmed.

Gyanendra Shrestha, a liaison officer at the ministry, confirmed to Xinhua news agency that Kami Rita reached the top of the mountain at 8:15 a.m. (local time) on Saturday.

According to expedition organising company Sangri-La Nepal Trek, Kami Rita along with five other Nepalis and six foreigners reached the top of the mountain.

Jeeban Ghimire, managing director of Sangri-La Nepal Trek, told Xinhua that Kami Rita who works for the company as a high altitude worker, made the company and the country proud by reaching the summit the most number of times.

Kami Rita, who is from Thame village of Nepal's Solukhumbu district where Mt Everest lies, is a seasoned climber of the Himalayan mountains.

He has already climbed most of the peaks above 8,000 metres including K2, Cho-oyu, Lhoste and Annapurna among others.

As the mountaineering season nears the end, over 300 world climbers have reached the top of Mt. Everest so far this year, according to Shrestha.