Mt. Everest - Courageous men and their world records

Among the outdoor adventure sports, mountain climbing is the most exciting, but  grueling one. To get to the top of the peak, say Everest or Annapurna or any other peak above 20,000 feet, one has to toil and cross tough terrains and steep cliffs. In the case of Mt. Everest, the climber needs exemplary mental strength and good concentration, apart from good health. Listed below are amazing men who not only reached  Mt. Everest in style, taking all the risks under the sun, but also set world records, thus each one of them made history and has found a permanent niche in the history of Mt. Everest expedition. The unique aspect of Everest records is the  holders include young people in teens as well as men above 70 years  and for them sky is the limit.

Everest camps www.cbc.ca

 Apa (born Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa (Nepal):

(Most ascents on Everest - 21 times)

Apa (born Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa en.wikipedia.org

Apa (born Lhakpa Tenzing) Sherpa (20 January 1960): A Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer holds  jointly with Phurba Tashi, the record for reaching the summit of Mount Everest more times than any other person. Apa made his 21st Mount Everest summit on 11 May 2011 as a member of the   Eco Everest Expedition. His achievement of
21 ascents of Mount Everest as of  May  2011 shows his rare talents in mountain climbing  in the most most difficult mountainous terrain in the world. and his record is not yet broken.

Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa, born in Thame, a village in the Everest region of Nepal,  began his climbing career in 1985, and  in  1990 got a chance to climb Everest.  Apa first reached the summit of Mount Everest on his fourth attempt, on May 10, 1990, with a New Zealand team led by climber Rob Hall along with Peter Hillary, son of  legendary Edmund Hillary.   He successfully led the first expedition on April 2012 to complete the Great Himalaya Trail, an adventure trip,  covering 1,700-kilometre (1,050-mile) trek spanning the entire length of the Nepalese Himalayas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apa_Sherpa

 Dave Hahn (USA):

(Most summits by a foreigner- 15 times)

RMI Expedition

Dave Hahn (November 3, 1961, Okinawa, Japan): A professional American mountain guide, ski patroller, journalist and lecturer in May 2013, he made history by reaching  the summit of Mount Everest for the 15th time - the most for a non-Sherpa climber, according to Outside Magazine contributor and climber Alan Arnette. He also reached 35 summits of Vinson Massif, Antarctica’s highest mountain, 21 times  the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest peak over the course of 30 expeditions. Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1984, Hahn's name is  inducted into the university's  Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1999, Hahn  was a key member of the team that discovered the remains of George Mallory at 27,000 feet (8,200 m) on Mount Everest's North Face. Mallory died on the mountain in 1924, along with fellow climber Andrew Irvine, but it has never been determined whether or not he first reached the top

Nawang Gombu (Nepal):

(First to summit twice)

Nawang Gombu. The Hindu

Nawang Gombu ( born 1935-April 24, 2011): A Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer, Gombu  was born in Khumbu, Nepal, and his uncle is  Tenzing Norgay, who along with Hillary climbed Everest for the first time in 1953. He was  not only the youngest Sherpa to reach 26,000 ft. in 1964, but also became the first Indian and the third man in the world to summit Nanda Devi (24,645 ft). In 1965, he created world record then by becoming  the first man in the world to have climbed Everest twice - with the Indian Expedition and American, a record that would remain unbroken for almost 20 years.

When he was a boy   Gombu was sent to Tibet to become a monk at Rongbuk Monastery, but it did not happen. He traveled extensively and  several times climbed Mt. Rainier in Washington state, USA. He was an advisor  at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and lived in in Darjeeling, West Bengal.

Mt. Everest trekking, The Himalayan Times

Kazi Sherpa  (Nepal):

(Fastest ascent without oxygen)

Confirmed by Everest historian Elizabeth Hawley  and Everest Summiteers' Association, Kazi  holds the current speed climbing record on Mount Everest for the South Col Route, from base camp to the summit, without oxygen from base camp to the summit.

Ang Kaji Sherpa P. YouTube

Kazi has the rare distinction of being the first man to have made the fastest ascent on Everest. He set the   record  on the South Col Route, without supplemental oxygen, without steroid drug assistance (Dexamethasone), and without Sherpa assistance or guide assistance. In  1998, he took  20 hours 24 minutes, from the south base camp to the summit. Earlier record  was held by Marc Batard in 1988 by 22 hours and 29 minutes.

Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazi_Sherpa

Ang Rita aka Angrita Sherpa:

(Most summits without supplemental oxygen)

Ang Rita Ang Rita Sherpa. Alchetron

Ang Rita aka Angrita Sherpa (Nepali), born in 1948 in small village called Yillajung in eastern Nepal is a  remarkable mountain climber  who  was on the roof of the world - Mount Everest ten times without the use of supplemental (bottled) oxygen, and is thus known as "The Snow Leopard". He took Southeast Ridge route eight times. When he climbed Everest for the 6th time in 1990, setting  the world record for the most number of successful ascents, eventually reaching 10 on May 23, 1996. His last summit followed 12 days after the second deadliest accident in the history of Everest  when eight people were  caught in a blizzard and died on Mount Everest during attempts to ascend to or descend from the summit. That particular season the death toll was  12 people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ang_Rita

 Erik Weihenmayer (USA):

(First blind climb to summit Everest)

Reached  the summit of Mount Everest, on May 25, 2001Erik Weihenmayer

Climbing the tallest peak in the world - mount Everest is a Herculean task for able bodied men with lots of mountaineering experience. If a man does summit the peak with no eye sight, barring all the dangers on the way, is something great, something impossible to imagine. 

Erik Weihenmayer, despite his blindness, must be a man of steel and fortitude, taking inspiration from Helen Keller. He unfortunately lost his sight at the age of 13. Undeterred, he kept his life going, surmounting the barriers on the way. That fighting spirit ultimately took him to the roof of the world Mount Everest in 2001, being the first blind climber to achieve this great triumph.

Besides in 2001, he  scaled the highest peaks of the seven continents  along with  the elite group of climbers, thus becoming the only blind person to climb the Seven Summits.  In 2014, he also solo kayaked the Grand Canyon, a journey of 277 miles along the Colorado River. His other achievement includes  his 50 solo sky dives. Time Magazine honored him with a cover story. He also completed the Seven Summits in September 2002,

Earlier his exceptional climbs included  the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite in 1996, and  Losar, a 2700-foot tough vertical ice face in the Himalayas which he ascended in two days and 3 hours, in 2008. US President George W Bush  congratulated him on his achievement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Weihenmayer

Doug Scott and Dougal Haston (Britain):

(First Pair to summit Everest)

Scott  and Haston reached the top of Everest taking a new route for the first time on the south -west  face of the mountain led by Bonington. In September 1975, they became the first pair from Britain ever to reach the summit. It is worth mentioning here that five previous expeditions had failed to reach the summit on the same route.

Dougal Haston and Doug Scott at top camp Everest, 1975Hiyalife

 Dougal Haston (19 April 1940 -17 January 1977)  born in Currie, on the outskirts of Edinburgh.was a Scottish mountaineer, well-known  for his  adventures in the British Isles, Alps, and the Himalayas. He died in an avalanche while skiing above Leysin, Switzerland. Earlier, in 1970, he and Don Whillans were the first to climb the south face of Annapurna on an expedition led by Chris Bonington, and in 1975.

Douglas Keith Scott CBE, educated at Cottesmore School in Lenton, Nottingham (born 29 May 1941), is an English mountaineer. In his early age, he showed interest in outdoor activities, in particular, mountain climbing. He is popular for his trail blazing efforts to establish a new route to Mt. Everest. He along with Dougal Haston made  the first  ever  ascent of the south-west face choosing a new route  to  Mount Everest on 24 September 1975. Scott and Dougal Haston were the first Britons to climb Everest during this expedition (discounting Mallory and Irvine). He and his partner received prestigious mountaineering awards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dougal_Haston

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Scott

Reinhold Messner (Italian):

(First  Everest climber without bottled oxygen)

During the last phase of ascent on Everest, the air is very thin so, the available oxygen is not good enough for the climbers who pant a lot while ascending. With inadequate oxygen at very high elevation on the snow capped peak, one may experience dizziness and disorientation. It requires lots of guts and determination to summit the peak without supplemental oxygen.  Reinhold Messner and Austrian companion Peter Habeler were the first men to successfully reach the summit without supplemental oxygen.
On 8 May 1978, Reinhold Messner stood with Peter Habeler on the summit of Mount Everest, of course, without oxygen cylinder.

On  20 August 1980, Messner also made the first solo ascent without oxygen. Prior to May 1978, this ascent  was disputed whether this was possible at all. For this solo climb, he chose the northeast ridge to the summit, where he crossed above the North Col in the North Face to the Norton Couloir. Thus, he became the first man to climb through this steep gorge to the summit

Reinhold Messner in June 2002. en.wikipedia.org

 His other achievements: In May and June 1970, Reinhold Messner was a member of of an  Douth Face expedition to  the Nanga Parbat  led by Karl Herrligkoffer, the objective being to climb the as yet un-climbed Rupal Face, the highest rock and ice face in the world. On 9 August 1978 Messner  successfully made a solo trip to
the summit of Nanga Parbat  again via the Diamir, after three unsuccessful attempts.

Everest Tibetan plateau en.wikipedia.org/

Pemba Dorje Sherpa(Nepal):

(fastest ascent from Base Camp with bottled oxygen)
Pemba Dorje Sherpa from beding, Rolwaling Valley, Dolkha, Nepal made a record by making the fastest ever ascent of Mount Everest on 21 May 2004, taking eight hours and ten minutes; ascent from Everest South Base Camp with supplemental oxygen . The record was confirmed by Nepal's tourism ministry.

 His early  record for the fastest summit of 12 hours and 45 minutes in 2003, was broken by Lakpa Gelu Sherpa three days later who set a new record of 10 hours 56 minutes. Pemba Dorje disputed the claim of Lakpa Gelu, but the Nepalese government ruled it was valid.

Pemba DorjeLhakpa SherpaWikipedia

References
 "Sherpa sets record Everest time". BBC News. 21 May 2004. Retrieved 18 July 2016.

Jordan Romero (USA):
(Youngest American to reach Everest)

Jordan Romero, 13, from the ski town of Big Bear, California,.World Record Academy

 Jordan Romero, 13, from the ski town of Big Bear, California, near the San Bernardino Mountains,  climbed Everest (29,028 feet / 8,847 meters)  and holds a  new world record for the Youngest to climb Mount Everest ( May 23, 2010). The extreme weather conditions on the high mountains  claimed the lives of 179 climbers over the years. Romero, with help from his father, step mother and three Sherpas   achieved this triumph. Jordan Romero reached the Everest summit with a group of mountaineers, including a Nepalese Sherpa named Apa who himself broke his own world record by climbing Everest for a 20th time (then).  
Previous record for the youngest to summit Everest was held by Ming Kipa of Nepal, who was 15 then in 2003.  Jordan Romero  had to climb from the  Chinese side of the mountain after Nepal denied him permission on age grounds, according to nepalese.com.

Earlier just nine years of age, Romero climbed the highest peaks on six of the seven  continents, including Mount Kilimanjaro (19,341 feet / 5,895 meters) in Tanzania.

Yuichiro Miura (Japan):
 (Oldest - 80 years Japanese to reach Everest)

Yuichiro Miura TopNews

Yuichiro Miura (born October 12, 1932) a Japanese Alpinist  in 2003, at age 70, became the oldest person to scale Mount Everest. This record had since been  broken. However, on May 26, 2008, Miura once again successfully reached the summit of Mt. Everest at the age of 75. In spite of his age, with more vigor on May 23, 2013 Miura  successfully stood atop Everest and again became the oldest person to climb to the summit  at the age of 80. As he had difficulty in making the descent  after reaching the top, he was airlifted to base camp from 6500 meters in elevation. This achievement is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

In addition to this feat he was  the first person to ski on Mount Everest on May 6, 1970 and  in 1975 descended nearly 4,200 vertical feet from the South Col (elevation over 8,000 m (26,000 ft)). This demanding, risky feat was documented in 1975, in the film The Man Who Skied Down Everest. The film won the Academy Award for best documentary, the first sports film to get the honor.

Keizo Miura, took keen interest in mountain climbing and skiing in this school days.  
en.wikipedia.org/Yuichiro Miura

Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes:
(Oldest Britain to reach Everest)

English explorer. Sir Ranulph -Fiennes, en.wikipedia.org

 Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, OBE (born 7 March 1944), son of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, is an English explorer and writer. He holds numerous  records to his credit. Fiennes was born in Windsor, Berkshire on 7 March 1944 and  inherited his father's baronetcy, becoming the 3rd Baronet of Banbury, at his birth. Fiennes is a third cousin of Mark Fiennes, whose children include actors Joseph and Ralph Fiennes, and is a distant cousin to the British Royal Family.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranulph_Fiennes

Sherman Bull, MD (USA):
(Oldest American to reach Mt. Everest)

Sherman Bull, the oldest person to reach Mt. Everest at age 64 in 2001 newcanaannewsonline.com

  Sherman Bull -- the oldest  American to have reached the summit of Mt. Everest at age 64 in 2001after 5 failed attempt.
His 2001 victory in reaching the top of Mt. Everest was his fifth attempt. On his third try, he slipped and fell 200 meters, landing in a crevasse in the dark of the night, the traditional time for climbing up the mountain in aiming to reach the summit by dawn. He was saved by other climbers after spotting his head lamp.

Min Bahadur Sherchan(Nepal):
(oldest Nepalese to reach Everest)

Bahadur Sherchan  World Record Academy

 Min Bahadur Sherchan, (20 June 1931) had conquered Mt Everest on May 25, 2008 last year when he  was just a few days away from celebrating his 77th birthday (76 years 340 days) the world record for the Oldest Everest climber then. He is an inspiration to young Sherpas and the young people of Nepal.
  
Gerhard Schmatz (W.Germany):

(Oldest German to reach Everest)

Gerhard Schmatz (b 1929)  from West Germany was the oldest German - 50 years 118 days old to summit Everest in Octobe 

Gerhard Schmatz. hepostmortempost.com

 Hannelore Schmatz, wife of Gerhard Schmatz was also a German mountaineer (born on February 16, 1940). On October 2, 1979 and  unfortunately  she became the first woman, and the first German citizen to die on the upper slopes of Mount Everest. Her husband, 50-year-old Gerhard Schmatz was the leader of the expedition, becoming the oldest person to have summited Mount Everest up to that time. Hannelore was in a different group. Normally a team will be split into a small group  allowing  a few to summit at a time as the rest will remain at base camp. Hannelore summited that day with Swiss-American Ray Genet and a Sherpa, Sungdare. Later caught in a blizzard, both Genet and Hannelore died. For the leader of the team Hannelore's husband, Gerhard it was a nightmarish experience.
http://www.thepostmortempost.com/2015/10/01/hannelore-schmatz/

These people mentioned above achieved success and fame through passion, hard work, trust and the ability to set aside their failures. These highly motivated people are a source of inspiration to others.

Father and son summiters:

Peter Hillory(Casual image), mountaineer & speaker. Motivational Speakers

Peter Edmund Hillary (born 26 December 1954), a New Zealand mountaineer, philanthropist and writer is the son of adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary, who, along with Nepalese Sherpa mountain climber Tenzing Norgay, completed the first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. Peter Hillary, imbibed the adventurous spirits of his father, stood on top of Everest  in 1990, thus  he and his father were the first father/son duo to achieve the feat. Hillary made two summits of Everest and did not stop at it. He made an 84-day trek across Antarctica to the South Pole, and an expedition guiding astronaut Neil Armstrong to land a small aircraft at the North Pole. Besides, he has climbed many of the world's major peaks, and on 19 June 2008, completed the Seven Summits, reaching the top of the highest mountains on all seven continents, when he summited Denali in Alaska. His amazing achievements prove that he is the worthy son of an an illustrious father  Sir Edmund Hillary, whose concern for the welfare of the mountain people - Sherpas is well known.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hillary

.

.

.