14 May 2018•Update: 15 May 2018
By Deepak Adhikari
KATHMANDU, Nepal
An Australian climber, who set a world record of scaling all seven highest peaks on all seven continents in the shortest time, and a Chinese double amputee were among 50 people who summited Everest on Monday.
This is the season’s first summit by foreigners on the world’s highest peak.
Thirty-six-year-old Steve Plain began his expedition in Antarctica early this year and reached Everest’s summit on the 117th day on Monday, breaking his rival’s record at 226 days.
Xia Boyu, 69, a double amputee who lost both his legs to frostbite 40 years ago on Everest, became the first Chinese with prosthetic legs to summit Everest. The first record of double amputee on Everest is held by Mark Inglish from New Zealand.
“They are among around 50 people, including Sherpa guides who reached the top on Monday,” Gyanendra Shrestha, a tourism officer, said.
Hundreds of people try to scale Everest on the Nepalese side every year in April and May, when weather conditions are favorable for commercial expeditions.
Each foreign climber pays an $11,000 permit fee to Nepal government to climb Everest, which straddles between Nepal and China.
For this season, China has allowed 118 foreign climbers from the Tibetan side of the mountain.
