A mountain guide who recently climbed the world’s 14 tallest mountains in record time has set a new goal for himself. Tenjen Sherpa of Nepal says he now wants to become the youngest person to climb all the peaks twice.
Last month, the 35-year-old Tenjen and 37–year-old Norwegian Kristin Harila, broke the record for the fastest climb of the mountains. All of the peaks are above 8,000 meters. The two reached the final mountaintop, K2, in 92 days. It was very speedy. The record they broke was set at 189 days.
Now, Tenjen is preparing for his new goal. He said he hopes to start by climbing Mount Shishapangma in China in the next two months. “I have already done (it) once and I want to double it,” he told the Associated Press.
Only person has climbed all 14 peaks twice. Forty-eight-year-old Sanu Sherpa completed his second climb of the mountains last year.
Tenjen has already climbed seven of the mountains twice. He hopes to climb the remaining seven by next spring.
Tenjen climbed the first of these mountains in 2016, when he reached the top of Mount Dhaulagiri in Nepal. He has since made several similar climbs every year, including four trips to Mount Everest.
He and his three brothers set a record as the most siblings to have climbed Mount Kanchenjunga. Kanchenjunga is the world’s third-tallest mountain, behind Mount Everest and K2.
Tenjen started working as a mountain guide to support his family. However, in April, the Kathmandu company Seven Summits Treks hired Tenjen to join Harila’s trip to Mount Shishapangma. Harila and Tenjen then climbed the rest of the mountains together.
“It was my good luck and (I) was fortunate to be with her in the team,” Tenjen said to the Associated Press.
Tenjen plans to climb Shishapangma for the second time later this fall. He plans on carrying with him pictures of a brother who died. Shishapangma was the only one of the 14 tallest mountains that this brother had not climbed. Tenjen says he will bury the images on the mountaintop.
Tenjen told the AP that Sherpas do not get enough government recognition for their hard work.
“It is not possible to just continue climbing mountains as you grow older, so what else is there than to think of migrating abroad,” Tenjen pointed out.
Tenjen never attended school growing up. He has difficulty reading and writing. But, living in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, his children are able to get an education. Tenjen thinks, though, that since more children will be growing up in cities in the future, they will not have the skills to become Sherpas.
I’m Dominic Varela.
