Mountaineering legend Apa Sherpa made it to the top of the world highest peak, Mount Everest, Saturday morning for the 20th time, breaking his own previous record.
According to officials at Mountaineering Department, Apa conquered the world’s highest mountain at 8:34 am along with several other climbers. The expedition team reached atop the 8,848-meter tall peak by taking advantage of a break in the weather.
Apa and his fellow climbers of the Eco Everest Expedition had set out to the Mt. Everest in April with the aim of clearing 15,400 pounds garbage scattered in the Himalayan peak.
The 50-year old mountaineer guide also hoisted a Nepali flag imprinted with the slogan of Nepal Tourism Year 2011 on the top of the Mt. Everest in order to spread the message of tourism year. Nepal expects to attract over 1 million tourists in the tourism year.
Apa made the first successful ascent of Everest on May 10, 1990, and set foot atop the summit twice in 1992 and 1997. He has been climbing the highest peak regularly since 1990 except in 1996 and 2001.
Though Apa announced his retirement citing family reasons after completing his 12th summit in 2002, he could not resist his temptation to scale the coveted peak for long time and stepped again atop the Everest for the 13th time in 2003.
Meanwhile, a 13-year-old American became the youngest climber to ever summit Mount Everest on Saturday.
Jordan Romero's journey was tracked through GPS coordinates on his blog, logging his team's ascent up Everest, which is 29,028 feet (8,847 meters) above sea level.
"Their dreams have now come true," a statement on Jordan's blog said. "Everyone sounded unbelievably happy."
Before Saturday, the youngest climber to scale Everest was 16-year-old Temba Tsheri of Nepal.
"I know you would like to hear from the boy himself, but he is currently flat on his belly knocked out," a member of Jordan's climbing team said in a message posted Saturday on his blog. "The effort he put out this last more like 48 hours is -- you're not going to believe the story when you see it and read about it."
Romero left for the peak from the Chinese side of the mountain after Nepal denied him permission on age grounds, according to nepalnews.com.
Before starting out, Romero, of Big Bear, California, said he wanted to climb Everest to inspire more young people to get outdoors.
"Obese children are the future of America, the way things are going," he said on April 9 in Kathmandu. "I am hoping to change that by doing what I do: climbing and motivational speaking."
With a smile, he added: "I am doing this a little for myself, too, to do something big."
Jordan now has climbed six of the seven highest peaks on seven continents, known as the Seven Summits.
"This is not an isolated vacation," said Paul Romero, Jordan's father, before the two embarked up Everest in Nepal. "This is a lifestyle."
Romero's family started tackling the Seven Summits in summer 2005. He was just 9 when they climbed 19,341 feet (5,895 meters) to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
There is a debate about whether the tallest mountain in Oceania is Kosciuszko in mainland Australia or Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia, so Romero and his family climbed both.
The only peak left for him to climb after Everest is the Vinson Massif in Antarctica, which is 16,067 feet (4,897 meters). A trip there is planned for December.
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