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Seven brothers among those honoured for Everest feats on Hillary anniversary

Those honoured included Kami Rita, who climbed the mountain for a record 22nd time, and Lhakpa Sherpa, whose nine climbs are the most for a woman.

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Nepalese mountain climbers pose in front of the statues of New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay during a function organised to mark Everest Day in Kathmandu (Niranjan Shrestha/AP)

Nepal has honoured several Sherpa guides for their own Everest successes on the anniversary of the first conquest of the world’s highest peak.

Government minister Bina Magar, who herself is an Everest climber, honoured the guides at a ceremony held every year on the date in 1953 that New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and his guide Tenzing Norgay first set foot on the summit of the 8,850-metre (29,035ft) mountain.

Those honoured included Kami Rita, who just climbed the mountain for a record 22nd time.

Kami Rita receives an honorary certificate (Niranjan Shrestha/AP)
Kami Rita (Niranjan Shrestha/AP)

Mr Rita first scaled Everest aged 24 and has made the climb almost every year since then.

The ceremony also honoured Lhakpa Sherpa, whose nine climbs are the most for a woman.

She lives in West Hartford, Connecticut, for much of the year and works at a grocery store when she is not guiding foreign climbers.

Lhakpa Sherpa (Niranjan Shrestha/AP)
Lhakpa Sherpa (Niranjan Shrestha/AP)

The ceremony also honoured seven brothers who have all made it to the top of the world and have combined for 61 total ascents.

A certificate issued by Guinness World Records was handed over to the brothers at the ceremony in Kathmandu.

A man puts a garland around the statues of New Zealander Edmund Hillary, left, and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay (Niranjan Shrestha/AP)
A man puts a garland around the statues of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay (Niranjan Shrestha/AP)

An avalanche struck just above base camp in 2014, killing 16 Sherpa guides, while a year later another avalanche triggered by an earthquake ripped through base camp, killing 19 people.

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