After ten hours and 56 minutes, Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa stood on top of Mount Everest. Since his departure from base camp, he had only had two breaks: once in Camp Two to drink water, and once in the last camp before the finish to refill his oxygen cylinder. For 15 minutes he set his world record on the highest peak on earth, then descended again.

When Lhakpa Gelu tells the story of the German Press Agency in a café in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, that's all 16 years ago. He now lives in the US and is only visiting his home country for a short time. But only in March 2019 did the Guinness Book of Records recognize Lhakpa Gelu's achievements. "Fastest Rise of Everest (South Side)" is now on the Guinness Book website, along with its name.

Lhakpa Gelu reports how he grew up about 50 kilometers southwest of the 8,848 meter high Mount Everest, in a village called Kharikhola. He belongs to the Sherpa, who live for centuries in the Himalayas. When tourists from abroad board the mountain on the border between Nepal and China-managed Tibet, locals almost always help them. They are adapted to the cold and the scarce oxygen and are well-versed in the area.

Lhakpa Gelu says that at the age of 14, he started carrying food and tents for climbers to the base camp of Mount Everest. He had broken off his education after the fourth grade, because the next secondary school was two days march away. In his first job Lhakpa Gelu earned about 20 cents.

More than 400 people have already died on Everest

The ascent of Mount Everest is no longer reserved for extreme athletes. In the season, which lasts only a few weeks in April and May, every year hundreds of paying tourists try to climb the summit on the Nepalese side and outdo each other in their achievements. Since the first ascent in 1953, more than 400 climbers have died in the attempt.

When Lhakpa Gelu led tourists to Everest, he met two colleagues, he says: Kazi Sherpa and Babu Chhiri Sherpa. The former climbed Mount Everest in 1998 in 20 hours and 24 minutes without artificial oxygen, the latter managed two years later in 16 hours and 56 minutes.

Private / Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa / DPA

Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa just before his rise in 2003

Normally an expedition takes at least a week. Lhakpa Gelu dared 2003 own record attempt. "As a mountaineer, I was in my best shape at the time," he recalls, "I was confident and strong." Exactly 50 years after the first Mount Everest expedition, he achieved the best. His entire expedition - ascent and descent - lasted only 18 hours and 20 minutes.

"My reputation was at stake"

But for a long time he could not enjoy his success. A year later, Pemba Dorje Sherpa climbed Mount Everest. He claimed to have reached the summit in just eight hours and ten minutes. However, he could not show a proof photo. Although this caused frowning among mountain climbers, Nepal's Tourism Bureau and also the Guinness Book of Records Pemba Dorje certified the title as a new record holder.

"My reputation was at stake," explains the now 52-year-old Lhakpa Gelu. He sips his coffee and looks out of the window at the roofs of a huge monastery in Nepal's capital Kathmandu. That's why he hired a lawyer and prosecuted the case in court for years, despite all the burdens that came with it.

Only after 13 years, in November 2017, Nepal's Supreme Court declared the record of Pemba Dorje invalid. Lhakpa Gelu got his title back. "There is finally justice," he says. Ang Tshering Sherpa, former President of the Nepalese mountaineering association, regrets what has happened. "Mountaineers are expected to be honest, mountaineers should not lie."

Despite the fame of mountaineering, Lhakpa Gelu wishes a different future for his family. Since 2006 he lives with his three children in the USA. On the West Coast in Seattle he owns a restaurant where he sells "Nepali Thali", a dish made of rice, lentils and vegetable curry, for the equivalent of about 17 euros.

His daughter has a degree in bioprocess engineering, his eldest son works as a computer technician at a large online mail-order company. Working as a mountain guide is too dangerous for his children, says Lhakpa Gelu. "I took many risks, thank God I survived."