Climbing Mount Everest is a challenging task. One requires to be psychologically and physically strong while doing so.
The rugged terrain, unforgiving snow, ice, glacier, neverending altitude, and chilly weather make ascending the tallest mountain in the world even more difficult. Hundreds of solid-hearted individuals come to Nepal to fulfill their dreams of reaching Mount Everest’s summit. Even imagining being on the top and observing the tiny mortals below is a treat. Finally, the experience you will have and the people you will meet during the process will be unforgettable.
Climbing Mount Everest takes a lot of days and a lot of determination. It is accepted worldwide that it doesn’t matter the hours you take to complete the task. What matters is that you meet it perfectly. But some people disagree.
Some fantastic individuals worldwide have surpassed all expectations and have successfully become the fastest person to climb Mount Everest. And the reasons for getting such an excellent title vary. Some do it because they want to be the fastest, while others do it because they always compete, even with the best.
So buckle up as we take you along to meet with the fastest person to climb Everest. We are sure you will love it.
Who is the fastest person to climb Mount Everest?
Do you think the fastest person to climb Mt. Everest is an extraordinary individual?
Well, you guessed it correctly. The fastest person up Everest is not a great person, but they are genuinely remarkable.
To answer the question of who’s the fastest person to climb Everest, one must look into two categories. You see, climbing Mount Everest can be done with or without the help of supplemental oxygen. So when one discusses the fastest person to climb Mount Everest, there will be two individuals; the fastest person to climb Everest with oxygen and the fastest person to climb Mount Everest without oxygen.
The Fastest Person To Climb Mount Everest: With Oxygen
Oxygen is an essential chemical element without which one cannot live. And the necessity of oxygen is even more remarkable when one dares to climb Mount Everest. With increasing altitude, the level of oxygen plummets, and one can get altitude sickness. So, supplemental oxygen not only becomes a want, it becomes a life-saving need.
Moving forward, we must consult the two famous Everest Base Camps before discussing the fastest person to climb Mt. Everest. In addition, Everest’s summit can be reached either from South Base Camp in Nepal or North Base Camp in Tibet. These two base camps stand at different altitudes; some may even argue they have varying difficulty levels.
But two different Base Camps have given us two fastest people up Everest. One from the South Base Camp and the other from the North Base Camp.
Fastest Person To Climb Everest With Oxygen: South Base Camp
The fastest person to climb Mount Everest from the Everest South Base Camp is Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa.
Lhakpa, a Nepalese Sherpa, became the fastest person to climb Mt. Everest on May 26, 2003. He climbed Everest on a staggering record of 10 hours, 56 minutes, and 46 seconds. He became the honorary king of this title on his tenth ascend to Everest’s summit.
On May 25, 2003, Sherpa ascended the Everest summit at 5:00 p.m. and reached his target at 3:56:46 a.m. Then he returned to the Southern Base Camp around 11:20 a.m. Also, the total time Sherpa reached the summit from his Base Camp and back to the Base Camp was only 18 hours and 20 minutes.
During his fastest ascent to Mount Everest, Lhakpa belonged to the “Jubiläums Expedition Mt. Everest 2003” group. He was the Sardar of the twelve-membered group. Also, he was under the leadership of Eckhard Schmitt, a then 56-year-old mountaineer from Schaftlach, Germany.
Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa: Personal Life
Born on June 23, 1967, Lhakpa’s family consists of climbers. In fact, Sherpa’s older brother had died while climbing Mount Annapurna in 1991. Also, his younger brother climbed Mount Everest. He is married to his beautiful wife, Fulli, and has three exceptional children.
Moving on, Lhakpa Gelu decided to leave Nepal and go to the United States of America in 2006. In America, he settled in Utah. There he started working as a mountain guide. But, Lhakpa had it hard as his employers didn’t pay much. When he looked around, it saddened him to see that Western guides doing the same job were paid more than him.
So, in addition to being a guide, Sherpa also worked as a pizza delivery man, helper in coffee houses, and installed signs; finally, before being the fastest man to climb Mt. Everest.
Lhakpa worked at Alpine Ascents International as a guide. Here, he helped individuals in their expedition to climb Mount Rainier and Aconcagua.
Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa: Other Endeavors
In addition to climbing Mount Everest over a dozen times, Sherpa has also climbed Cho Oyu and Ama Dablam. Finally, Lhakpa climbed Everest in 2007 to raise money for a primary school in his native Nepal and to draw attention to the Sherpa people’s contributions to Himalayan mountaineering.
The Fastest Person To Climb Mount Everest Without Oxygen And Overall: North Base Camp
Some individuals like pineapples on pizza, and others can climb Mt. Everest without the help of oxygen. The world is indeed a very shocking place. So, here is the fastest person up Everest without oxygen from the Everest North Base Camp. Also, he is the fastest person to climb Mt. Everest overall from the Northern route.
On May 24, 1996, an Italian mountaineer, Hans Kammerlander, became the fastest person to climb Mt. Everest from the North Base Camp. He did the ascent without the help of supplemental oxygen, and his record stands at 16 hours and 45 minutes. He is also the fastest person to climb Everest from the Northern Base Camp overall.
Hans Kammerlander: Personal Life
Kammerlander was born on December 6, 1956, in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy. Currently, he lives at Ahornach, a small village near Sand in Taufers.
Hans Kammerlander: Other Endeavors
Heroic man Hans Kammerlander was the first to climb all fourteen peaks over 8,000 meters. In addition, he also works as a guide for UIAGM, which stands for English, International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations.
A man of many accolades, Hans was also the first to descend down Nanga Parbat by skiing. But, unfortunately, when he tried skiing down Mount Everest in 1996, he failed miserably.
Did you know that Hans will not climb Mount Manaslu? He said so in 2001 when he lost many of his close friends while attempting to climb the tricky mountain.
Finally, Kammerlander was also the first to climb the Seven Second Summits. The Seven Second Summit comprises all the second-highest mountains of all the seven continents in the world.
Who was the fastest person to climb Mount Everest?
Before Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa was the fastest person to climb Mount Everest, another guy had the same title. The guy’s name was Pemba Dorje Sherpa.
Pemba Dorje Sherpa was the person who had claimed to be the fastest person to climb Mt. Everest. He said that he climbed Everest on May 21, 2003, five days before Lhakpa ascended Mount Everest, and did so at only eight hours and ten minutes.
In fact, Pemba had even challenged Lhakpa for the title of the fastest person to climb Everest. Many claim that the ascent of Dorje was much easier because more than ninety people had gone ahead of him during his rise. Similarly, on that day, there was reasonably good weather because hard snow had melted and become soft, making Dorje’s path easier. Also, he took advantage of all the fixed ropes and ladders that other climbers had left behind.
Their feud came to light in May 2003 at the 50th-anniversary celebration of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa’s first ascent to Mount Everest. At this event, Pemba challenged the authenticity of the claim of Lhakpa being the fastest person up Everest. And had also started a petition to the Nepal Tourism Board to start an investigation looking into the matter.
Initially, the Nepal Tourism Board approved Sherpa’s claim and titled him the fastest person to climb Everest. However, later on, Pemba’s claim was rejected by the Guinness Book Of World Records, the Nepal Supreme Court, and the Nepal Tourism Board. In addition, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation of Nepal also did not believe his claim. It ripped him of his honor and title.
Talking Pemba, he became the 2011 Goodwill Ambassador representing Nepal Tourism Board. Also, he is among eight siblings of the same family, all mountaineers. He also belongs to the 21 Everest summits group. In addition, he is from Beding, Rolwaling Valley, in the Dolakha district of Nepal.
But Kamal Singh, a mountaineer, was the fastest person up Everest in 2003. In addition, he climbed Everest in only 12 hours and 45 minutes. Then his title was passed to Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa.
