Apa Sherpa scales Mt Everest 21st time; breaks his own record

Ace climber Apa Sherpa has scaled the Mt Everest for 21st time, breaking his own record on Wednesday.

Apa Sherpa (File photo)

Sherpa, 50, who is leading an environmental expedition collecting tons of garbage piled up on the Everest, reached atop the world's tallest peak at 9:15 am local time, Ang Tshering of Asian Trekking, the organiser of the expedition, informed.

Tilak Pandey, a government official monitoring the expedition, also confirmed Apa's new record.

Sherpa had first climbed the Everest in 1989 and has been scaling the peak almost every year.

He told media before setting out for the expedition that when he first began climbing Everest, the trail to the summit was covered with ice and snow, but it is dotted with bare rocks now.

"The melting ice has also exposed deep crevasses, making expeditions more dangerous."

Since 2006, Sherpa has been living in the Salt Lake City of Utah state of the United States. nepalnews.com