KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — One of the greatest mountain guides will attempt to scale the world's highest peak for the 31st time — and possibly the 32nd time as well — and break his own record.
Kami Rita, 55, flew to Mount Everest on Sunday from Kathmandu to lead a group of climbers who will try to reach the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) summit during the spring climbing season.
“I am mentally, emotionally and physically prepared to climb the mountain,” Kami Rita told The Associated Press at Kathmandu's airport. “I am in my top physical condition right now.”
He holds the record for the most successful ascents of Mount Everest at 30 times. In May last year he climbed the peak twice.
“My first priority is to get my client to the summit of the peak. Then I will decide on whether I will climb the peak more than one time during the season. It depends on the weather and conditions on the mountain,” he said.
His closest competitor for the most climbs of Mount Everest is fellow Sherpa guide Pasang Dawa, who has made 27 successful ascents of the mountain.
Kami Rita first climbed Everest in 1994 and has been making the trip nearly every year since. He is one of many Sherpa guides whose expertise and skills are vital to the safety and success each year of foreign climbers aspiring to stand on top of the mountain.
His father was among the first Sherpa mountain guides. In addition to his Everest climbs, Kami Rita has scaled several other peaks that are among the world’s highest, including K2, Cho Oyu, Manaslu and Lhotse.
According to Nepal's Department of Tourism, 214 climbers have been issued permits to attempt Mount Everest from the Nepali side of the peak in the south this climbing season, which ends in May. Most climbing of Everest and nearby Himalayan peaks is done in April and May, when weather conditions are most favorable.
Everest was first climbed in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.
An airport official and friend takes a selfie with renowned Sherpa mountain guide Kami Rita, left, as the latter prepares to depart from the Tribhuvan airport to ascend Mount Everest for the record 31st time, in Kathmandu, India, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Gopen Rai)
Renowned Sherpa mountain guide Kami Rita is garlanded at the Tribhuvan airport as he prepares to depart to ascend Mount Everest for the record 31st time, in Kathmandu, India, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Gopen Rai)
FILE - A bird flies in the backdrop of Mount Everest, as seen from Namche Bajar, Solukhumbu district, Nepal on May 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Former world champion Mads Pedersen narrowly beat Wout van Aert in a sprint finish to win the opening stage of the Giro d’Italia on Friday and claim the first pink jersey of this year’s race, which started in Albania for the first time.
Pedersen, who won the world title in 2019, edged Van Aert by half a wheel in the hilly 160-kilometer (99-mile) stage from Durrës to Tirana, which had a flat finish.
“We had a clear plan today and the team was really amazing to put that hard a tempo on the climb. That was exactly what we wanted,” Pedersen said of how his Lidl-Trek team set the pace on the final third-category climb. “We made a plan and we fulfilled the plan.”
It was Pedersen’s second career stage win in the Giro, having also won in Naples two years ago.
Pedersen has also won two stages at the Tour de France, and three at the Spanish Vuelta. Giro d'Italia organizers said he will be the first rider from Denmark to wear the pink jersey.
“To top it off with the pink jersey is absolutely amazing,” Pedersen said. “It’s my first leader’s jersey in a Grand Tour.”
Venezuelan rider Orluis Aular crossed third.
Overall contender Mikel Landa crashed toward the end of the stage and was carried away on a stretcher, forcing him to abandon the race.
The race remains in Albania for two more days. Stage 2 on Saturday is a 13.7-kilometer individual time trial in Tirana that will test overall contenders like Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso.
The three-week Grand Tour returns to Italy for Stage 4 in Puglia — directly across the Adriatic Sea from Albania. The finish is in Rome on June 1.
AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling
Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek, right, celebrates winning stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia from Durazzo (Durres) to Tirana (Tirane), Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek celebrates winning stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia from Durazzo (Durres) to Tirana (Tirane), Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
The pack rides during stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia from Durazzo (Durres) to Tirana (Tirane), Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Gian Mattia D'Alberto/LaPresse via AP)
The final sprint of stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia from Durazzo (Durres) to Tirana (Tirane), Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek wins stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia from Durazzo (Durres) to Tirana (Tirane), Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
The pack rides during the stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia from Durazzo (Durres) to Tirana (Tirane), Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
The pack rides during the stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia from Durazzo (Durres) to Tirana (Tirane), Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
The pack rides cycles through the during the stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia from Durazzo (Durres) to Tirana (Tirane), Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)
The pack rides during the stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia from Durazzo (Durres) to Tirana (Tirane), Albania, Friday, May 9, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
