In what promises to be a busy season on the planet’s tallest peak, there have already been a number of notable successes: Shehroze Kashif, 19, became the youngest Pakistani to reach the summit; Sherpa Kami Rita summited for an incredible 25th time; and Bahrain’s prince, Sheikh Mohammed Hamad, summited along with his full team of royal guards. Yesterday morning (May 10th) at 6:15, British mountaineer Kenton Cool added to these by reaching the top of Mount Everest for a remarkable fifteenth time.
Cool, who hails from Gloucestershire in South West England, summited with fellow guide Dorji Gyalzen Sherpa, and in doing so broke his own British record for the most successful summits of Mount Everest.
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In 2013, Cool shot to fame after becoming the first person to climb Mount Everest and neighbouring peaks Lhotse and Nuptse without returning to base camp. Cool also guided and led Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ two expeditions in 2008 and 2009, and in 2006 became the first Brit to complete a ski descent of an 8000-meter peak, on Nepal’s Cho Oyu.
Cool’s successful ascent comes against a backdrop of unease among this year’s Everest aspirants, with an outbreak of Covid-19 already having thwarted more than 30 climbers and the Chinese government’s decision to create a barrier between the Nepali and Chinese portions of the summit causing concern over additional, potentially deadly bottlenecks on the summit ridge.
