Nima Rinji Sherpa.
| Photo Credit: AP

Cheering crowds hailed an 18-year-old Nepali mountaineer as a hero as he returned home on Monday (October 15, 2024) after breaking the record for the youngest person to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks.

Nima Rinji Sherpa reached the summit of Tibet’s 8,027-metre-high Shisha Pangma on October 9, completing his mission to stand on the world’s highest peaks.

On Monday, he returned from China to Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, where scores waited to see him.

“I am feeling very happy,” he said, draped in traditional Buddhist scarves and garlands of marigold flowers, as he emerged to loud cheers at the airport.

“Thank you so much everyone”, he said to his supporters, beaming a wide grin. He hugged his family while others rushed to offer him scarves and flowers. Nepal’s climbing community also welcomed several others who returned after completing the summit of 14 peaks.

Summiting all 14 “eight-thousanders” is considered the peak of mountaineering aspirations, with all the peaks located in the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges, straddling Nepal, Pakistan, Tibet, and India.

Climbers cross “death zones” where there is not enough oxygen in the air to sustain human life for long periods.

Many elite climbers have died in the pursuit.

The young Sherpa is no stranger to the mountains, hailing from a family of record-holding climbers, who also now run Nepal’s largest mountaineering expedition company.

He started high-altitude climbing at the age of 16, by climbing Mount Manaslu in August 2022.

This handout photograph taken on March 28, 2024, and released by 14 Peaks Expedition shows Nepali mountaineer Nima Rinji Sherpa at the Mount Annapurna base camp.
| Photo Credit: AFP

An 18-year-old Nepali mountaineer on Wednesday (October 9, 2024) broke the record for the youngest person to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks, his team said.

Nima Rinji Sherpa reached the summit of Tibet’s 8,027-metre-high (26,335 feet) Shisha Pangma on Wednesday morning, completing his mission to stand on the world’s highest peaks.

“He reached the summit this morning. He had trained well and I was confident he would do it,” his father Tashi Sherpa told AFP.

Summiting all 14 “eight-thousanders” is considered the peak of mountaineering aspirations. Climbers cross “death zones” where there is not enough oxygen in the air to sustain human life for long periods.

“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,” Mr. Sherpa said in a statement.

“Mountaineering is more than labour, it is a testament to our strength, resilience and passion.”

Mr. Sherpa is no stranger to the mountains, hailing from a family of record-holding mountaineers, who also now run Nepal’s largest mountaineering expedition company.

The record was previously held by another Nepali climber, Mingma Gyabu ‘David’ Sherpa. He achieved it in 2019, at the age of 30.

‘Proud moment’

Nima Rinji Sherpa, who already holds multiple records from his ascents of dozens of peaks, started high-altitude climbing at the age of 16, by climbing Mount Manaslu in August 2022.

By June this year, he had climbed his 13th mountain, Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest.

“This is a proud moment for our country,” Nima Nuru Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, told AFP.

“Nima broke all the stereotypes, and his success has given a message that nothing is impossible if you have a strong determination.”

Nepali climbers— usually ethnic Sherpas from the valleys around Everest— are considered the backbone of the climbing industry in the Himalayas.

They carry the majority of equipment and food, fixing ropes and repairing ladders.

Long in the shadows as supporters of foreign climbers, they are slowly being recognised in their own right.

In 2021, a team of Nepali climbers made the first winter ascent of K2, the world’s second-highest peak— the notoriously challenging 8,611-metre (28,251-feet) “savage mountain” of Pakistan.