Nepal teen breaks record by climbing Earth’s highest mountains

Although the word ‘Sherpa’ is commonly used to describe someone who is a mountain guide or porter working in the Everest area, it is in fact the name of an ethnic group of people who live in the mountains of Nepal.

Nima Rinji said he wants to prove to younger generation of Sherpas that they can “rise above the stereotype of being only 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 comes from a family of record-holding mountaineers, who now run Seven Summit Treks: Nepal’s largest mountaineering expedition company, and the group with whom he completed the Mount Shishapangma climb.

Speaking to the BBC shortly after the record had been set, his father, Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, recounted the moment he delivered the news via satellite phone.

“He told me, ‘Dad, I reached the summit at 6:05 Chinese time. ‘My colleague Pasang Norbu and I have arrived’,” Tashi Lakpa recalled.

“Being highly trained and professional, he wasn’t even thrilled; it was normal. I said ‘I had faith in you. Return safely’.”

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-thousanders 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.