"He successfully reached the summit this morning guiding a Vietnamese mountaineer," Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks told AFP.

But the mountaineering season began tragically this year on Everest with the disappearance of three Nepalese climbers in April and an American in early May. And earlier on Wednesday, a 46-year-old Moldovan mountaineer died on the mountain.

Nepal is home to eight of the ten highest peaks in the world, including Everest, which rises to 8,849 meters above sea level, and hosts hundreds of climbers each season, when temperatures are milder and winds generally weaker.

On Wednesday, British mountain guide Kenton Cool, 49, reached the summit of Everest for the 17th time, breaking his own record for the most peaks reached by a non-Nepalese.

Kami Rita Sherpa, 53, held the record for the most ascents of Everest since 2018 that he climbed for the 22nd time, breaking his own record he shared with two other Sherpas. They have since retired.

- 'Everest man' -

But on Sunday, Nepalese mountaineer Pasang Dawa Sherpa, 46, equalled Kami Rita Sherpa's last record by reaching the summit of Mount Everest for the 26th time.

A mountain guide for more than 20 years, Kami Rita Sherpa first climbed Mount Everest in 1994, working for a commercial expedition.

Since then, he has climbed Everest almost every year, leading the first rope team to open the way to the summit several times.

View of the summit of Mount Everest taken on March 7, 2023 from a helicopter © Sebastien BERGER / AFP / Archives

Nepalese authorities have already issued 478 climbing permits to foreign climbers this year, bringing in $11,000 (nearly 10,000 euros) each. It takes a budget of 45,000 to 200,000 dollars (41,000 to 184,000 euros) in total per ascent.

With most climbers accompanied by a guide, more than 900 people will attempt to reach the roof of the world this season, which lasts until early June, a record for this year.

"Some people are chasing records, but I don't do this for records," Kami Rita Sherpa told AFP in March.

"I am thinking about what we can do for tourism in Nepal, so that more mountaineers come here and how we can satisfy them and make them happy," he said.

Nicknamed "the man of Everest", he was born in 1970 in Thame, a village in the Himalayas, a breeding ground for experienced mountaineers.

He grew up in the Himalayan valley watching his father, then his brother, go on expeditions as mountain guides, before walking in their footsteps.

"Not so surprising"

In 2019, it reached the roof of the world twice in the space of six days.

File photo taken on January 19, 2021, near Kathmandu, of Nepalese mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa posing with Prakash climbing © record certificates MATHEMA / AFP / Archives

Kami Rita Sherpa accompanied Chinh Chu, a Vietnamese billionaire who made his fortune in finance, on Wednesday, while Kenton Cool guided Richard Walker, executive chairman of British supermarket chain Iceland Foods.

Kenton Cool, 49, first climbed Everest in 2004 and his 16th ascent last year saw him set the only record for the most peaks by a non-Nepalese climber, but said he was "surprised" by the attention it is getting.

"Actually, it's not that surprising," he told AFP, recalling that many Nepalese guides had repeatedly reached the summit of Everest before him.

The mountaineering industry in the Himalayas relies on the experience of Sherpas, usually from the valleys of Everest.

They pay a heavy price to accompany hundreds of adventurers each year on the "Roof of the World". A third of the dead in Everest are Nepalese climbers.

© 2023 AFP