Cheering crowds hailed an 18-year-old Nepali mountaineer as a hero as he returned home on Monday (October 15, 2024) after breaking the record for the youngest person to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks.
Nima Rinji Sherpa reached the summit of Tibet’s 8,027-metre-high Shisha Pangma on October 9, completing his mission to stand on the world’s highest peaks.
On Monday, he returned from China to Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, where scores waited to see him.
“I am feeling very happy,” he said, draped in traditional Buddhist scarves and garlands of marigold flowers, as he emerged to loud cheers at the airport.
“Thank you so much everyone”, he said to his supporters, beaming a wide grin. He hugged his family while others rushed to offer him scarves and flowers. Nepal’s climbing community also welcomed several others who returned after completing the summit of 14 peaks.
Summiting all 14 “eight-thousanders” is considered the peak of mountaineering aspirations, with all the peaks located in the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges, straddling Nepal, Pakistan, Tibet, and India.
Climbers cross “death zones” where there is not enough oxygen in the air to sustain human life for long periods.
Many elite climbers have died in the pursuit.
The young Sherpa is no stranger to the mountains, hailing from a family of record-holding climbers, who also now run Nepal’s largest mountaineering expedition company.
He started high-altitude climbing at the age of 16, by climbing Mount Manaslu in August 2022.
Published – October 15, 2024 10:16 am IST
