Teen Climber Nima Rinji Sherpa Sets World Record.
A Nepalese teenager has broken the world record for the youngest mountain climber to summit Earth’s 14 tallest peaks. Nima Rinji Sherpa, 18, stood atop Tibet’s Mount Shishapangma at about 6:05 am local time on Wednesday.
By doing so, he became the most recent of just a few dozen people to have climbed all of the world’s “eight” thousandths—the 14 summits recognised by the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) as more than 8,000 meters above sea level.
Sherpa began climbing high-altitude mountains at the age of 16 and summited all 8,000 in 740 days. He reached the peak of Nepal’s Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest mountain, on 30 September 2022, shortly after finishing his tenth-grade high school exams.
On each trek, the young athlete was accompanied by his climbing partner, Pasang Nurbu Sherpa. The record-breaking ascent on Wednesday was the latest in a long line of accomplishments for Nima Rinji, who is also the world’s youngest climber to have scaled Himalayan mountains G1 and G2, the youngest climber to have climbed Kashmir’s Nanga Parbat, and the youngest climber to have scaled Mount Everest and Lhotse within 10 hours.
“This summit is not just the culmination of my personal journey, but a tribute to every Sherpa who has ever dared to dream beyond the traditional boundaries set for us,” Nima Rinji said on Wednesday, shortly after scaling Mount Shishapangma. Another life goal for the 18-year-old was to change the perception of Sherpas as simply helpers who aid foreign climbers on their climbs.
Although the term ‘Sherpa’ is usually used to refer to a mountain guide or porter working in the Everest region, it is actually the name of a tribe that lives in Nepal’s mountains. Nima Rinji said that he wants to prove to the new generation of Sherpas that they can “rise above the stereotype of only being support climbers and embrace their potential as top-tier athletes, adventurers, and creators.”
“We are not just guides; we are trailblazers,” he said on Wednesday. “Let this be a call to every Sherpa to see the dignity in our work, the power in our heritage, and the limitless possibilities in our future.”
Nima Rinji hails from a family of phenomenal mountaineers who currently own Seven Summit Treks, Nepal’s largest mountaineering expedition firm, and with whom he accomplished the Mount Shishapangma climb.
Rakesh Gurung, Director of Adventure Tourism and Mountaineering Branch under Nepal’s Department of Tourism, confirmed to the BBC that Nima Rinji had set the record.
“The peak has been confirmed this morning. Now I understand that there is a matter of giving a certificate after returning to the base camp,” he said.
The previous record holder for the youngest mountaineer to scale all eight- thousand was also a Nepali climber, Mingma Gyabu ‘David’ Sherpa, who achieved it at the age of 30 in 2019.
“This record is difficult to break now,” Gurung noted.
All 14 eight-thousanders are located in Asia, in the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges.
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Content Credit| Ajibola Emmanuel Adebayo
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