Nepali climber Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa, who summited Everest 4 times in 15 days, receives hero’s welcome

KATHMANDU: Nepali Sherpa climber Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa, who rewrote history by summiting Everest for a record four times within 15 days on Tuesday morning, received a heroic welcome upon arriving back in Kathmandu.

“I had been planning for it since two years. Finally, it became successful in 2025”, Tashi said as he was covered with Khada at the Domestic terminal of Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.

The 29-year-old Sherpa from Phortse, Solukhumbu, created history in mountain climbing on May 23, making his fourth successful ascent of Mount Everest in just 15 days. Tashi was also a member of the rope-fixing team from the 8K Expedition this year who stood atop Everest on May 9, opening ways for other climbers to reach the summit.

Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa, 29, from Solukhumbu summits Mount Everest sets world record by summiting Mount Everest four times in just 15 days.https://t.co/ECTDELYJs4 pic.twitter.com/pg28CIUYmx

— Everest Chronicle (@EverestChron) May 23, 2025

Tashi Gyalzen reached the summit point around 3.13 am for the fourth time on May 23. The Sherpa climber had climbed the world’s highest peak on May 9, 14, 19 and 23 this season.

The record made by Tashi has not been set by any of the climbers before. He didn’t just race against time — he redrew the boundaries of what the human body and spirit can endure in the planet’s harshest extremes.

“My first summit was made on May 9 as a member of the rope fixing team. At that time, I was having a cough and experiencing uneasiness, but my fellow members and the teams ascending from the Base Camp, I continued my summit. Out of all the four ascends that I made, the second was quite easier”, Tashi said.

Tashi’s father, Ang Chhiring, used to work as a labourer porter in the Himalayan region hauling heavy loads through the perilous trails to base camp. The profession that has come as a heritage for generations in Phortse, Tashi answered the call from Everest in 2017, starting his career as a trekking guide.

Two years later, in 2019, he stood on Everest’s summit for the first time. Since then, he has reached the peak three times from the Nepal side and once from the Tibetan side.

“I made to the top of Everest along with my client. I brought him back safely to the Everest Base Camp and then immediately started for my fourth summit the same night. My fourth summit attempt started from Base Camp on 22 May with an aim to reach the summit on May 23, and I was alone during my final push to the summit. There were no fellow Sherpas along with me. I carried all the required oxygen and necessities. I started for the summit on 8:00 pm (local time) on 22 May from Camp IV,” the record-holding climber added further.

Over the years, Tashi has summited other formidable peaks, including Cho Oyu, Manaslu, and Ama Dablam. His achievement follows a growing trend of record-breaking feats on Everest. Last year, Dawa Phinjhok Sherpa summited Everest three times in just eight days.

Nepal issued 468 Everest climbing permits this spring, each priced at $11,000. The race to the summit has grown increasingly crowded, commercialised, and competitive. Yet amid the frenzy, one Sherpa’s story rises above it all.

“I want to bring more foreign tourists into our country, Nepal. I might not be able to contribute a lot, but I want to increase the tourists by at least 5 per cent. I want to bring in more tourists to Nepal,” Tashi said. (ANI)