Sanu Sherpa: Man from Nepal sets ‘superhuman’ mountain-climbing record

A sherpa from Nepal has set a new climbing record by scaling twice 14 of the world’s mountains that are higher than 8,000m in a feat never reportedly achieved before.

Forty-seven-year-old Sanu Sherpa set the record on Thursday morning after he reached the top of Pakistan’s Gasherbrum II.

His adventure company Pioneer Adventure company’s executive director Nibesh Karki was quoted as saying by Reuters that Sanu Sherpa is the “only person in the world to scale each of the 14 highest mountains twice”.

Pasang Sherpa, chairman at Pioneer Adventures, told local media that Sanu Sherpa stood atop Gasherbrum II in Pakistan at around 8:17am on Thursday morning, reported Nepal newspaper The Himalayan Times.

Gasherbrum II is located on the Pakistan-China border in the Gilgit-Baltistan region.

Mr Sherpa, with an experience of more than two decades, is a renowned climber who hails from Sangkhuwasabha in Nepal.

The Pioneer Aventure website mentions that “his valorous mission of attempting double summit record of 14 X 8000ers .. is a lofty ambition that only few can achieve in a lifetime”.

His company also noted Mr Sherpa’s “adroitness in rope-fixing, rescue and other mountaineering skills”.

Eight of the 14 highest peaks that he has scaled, including Mount Everest, are in Nepal. The other six are in Pakistan and Tibet.

Mr Sherpa has climbed Everest seven times, according to The Himalayan Times. He scaled it first in 2007 and later in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2017.

He has climbed three other mountains over 8,000m high — including Nanga Parbat, Manaslu and Lhotse — three times each.

The mountaineering community sent congratulatory messages to Mr Sherpa for his historic achievement.

One Twitter user wrote: “This is another superhuman feat and a historic milestone by a Nepali Mountaineer, bravo sir, nothing but respect [sic]!”