Famous mountaineer Appa Sherpa, who set a new world record by climbing Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak for the 16th time, said that he plans to continue climbing as long as his health is fine.
Appa Sherpa
Appa Sherpa (File Photo)
Talking to journalists at Tribhuvan International Airport on Thursday, upon returning to the capital after his 16th summit of Everest, Appa said his recent feat of conquering the world’s highest peak had partly to do with his zeal to still climb and to ensure that his team members succeeded in their climbing mission.
“I decided to scale the peak to make sure my team members successfully conquered Everest and also to maintain my record climbs,” Appa said.
Being a Sirdar (head mountain guide) of the American expedition ‘Team No Limits 2006’, he did not really have to go up; he could have monitored the team’s activities from the Base Camp.
His family members are pressurizing him not to climb the peak and he also announced not to climb the peak in 2003, after he reached the top for 13th time, but he continued climbing setting new records.
On his wife’s pressuring him to give up climbing, he said, “My wife and family members had no idea I planned to climb the peak this time. She came to know about it after I broke my record.”
Appa, who successfully climbed the Mount Everest on May 10, 1990, rewrote history on May 19 2006 by scaling Everest for the 16th time thereby breaking his own record for the fifth consecutive year.