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05/20 03:18 CDT Record-setting British climber says he will scale Everest again
next year, targeting his 20th summit
Record-setting British climber says he will scale Everest again next year,
targeting his 20th summit
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA
Associated Press
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) --- A British climber who scaled Mount Everest for the
19th time, breaking his own record for the most ascents of the world's highest
peak by a non-Sherpa guide, returned from the mountain on Tuesday and said he
is already planning his next attempt.
Kenton Cool, 51, from southwest England, scaled the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot)
summit on Sunday before flying on a helicopter with his clients back to the
Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.
"I am 51 now, and I have been coming here since 2004 to climb Everest," Cool
said at Kathmandu's airport on Tuesday. "I have at least one more climb for
next year --- maybe 20 or 21 (total). After that I'll start climbing other
mountains in Nepal."
Cool has scaled Mount Everest almost every year since 2004.
He was unable to climb it in 2014 because the season was canceled after 16
Sherpa guides were killed in an avalanche, and again in 2015 when an earthquake
triggered an avalanche that killed 19 people. The 2020 climbing season was
canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Only Nepali Sherpa guides have scaled the peak more times than Cool. Kami Rita
holds the record for the most successful ascents of Mount Everest at 30 times.
He is currently on the mountain and is expected to attempt to reach the top in
the next few days.
Cool said his climb was smooth and that he faced no problems, but he noticed
that many climbers were trying to reach the peak on the same day.
Hundreds of climbers and their guides are on the mountain during the popular
spring climbing season, hoping to scale the world's highest peak.
"Mountaineering is an amazing sport which is open to everybody, but you just
need to be part of it responsibly and we have seen some people coming to
Everest --- perhaps they do not have the experience that they should," Cool
said, adding that it was not necessary to limit the number of climbers each
season.
Several climbers have already scaled the peak this month and hundreds more and
their guides are on the mountain attempting to reach the summit before the
climbing season finishes at the end of this month. Weather conditions then
deteriorate with the rainy monsoon season making climbing more difficult.
