Two Everest record setters: one celebrates, one dead

MOUNTAINEERING — Two records were set on Mount Everest this week:

On Wednesday, Nepalese veteran mountaineer Apa Sherpa broke his own record for most climbs of Mount Everest by scaling the world’s tallest peak for the 21st time.

The Nepalese sherpa, who lives in Utah, is leading an environmental expedition that plans to carry down tons of garbage left behind by past climbers. He took advantage of good weather to reach the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) summit with a group of other climbers, said Tilak Pandey, a government mountaineering official stationed at the base camp.

On Monday, 82-year-old former Nepalese Foreign Minister Shailendra Kumar Upadhyay, collapsed and died on the slopes of Mount Everest while attempting to become the oldest person to climb the world’s highest mountain.

Instead, he became the oldest Everest summit seeker to die on the mountain.