A woman has climbed Mount Everest in the quickest time on record.
This lady's journey to the peak of Mount Everest took 14 hours and 31 minutes going up, and an additional nine hours and 18 minutes descending, all within one day and night. She started her climb from the base camp at 3:52 pm on May 23rd and reached the summit at 6:23 am the next morning.
When it comes to Mount Everest, the limited climbing season and harsh environment create a small window for reaching the mountain's peak. Every year, photos show crowds that can be compared to traffic jams, with wait times extending for hours.
To avoid these crowds, Lama climbed overnight, bypassing the throng of several thousand people. She estimated that between May 21st and 22nd, there were 6,700 climbers between Camps Two and Four. On the morning of the 24th, she was following 60 or 70 people.
The records for the fastest ascents are set from the base camp due to the need to acclimate to the extreme altitude. Before her push to the top, Lama spent three weeks at the base camp, which was also where her climbing partner, Samantha McMahon, was aiming to become the first Australian woman to summit all of the world's 8,000-meter peaks.
Mount Everest towers at a height of 8,849 meters (29,032 feet).
Guinness World Records acknowledges Lama's time from base camp to the summit in 2018, recording a time of 39 hours and six minutes. This record was surpassed in 2021 by Ada Tsang from Hong Kong in 25 hours and 50 minutes. This year marked Lama's second-ever ascent of Everest.
The fastest ascent record for male climbers stands at 10 hours and 56 minutes, achieved by Nepali Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa in 2003.
While recognizing her achievement, Lama insists she isn't overly focused on breaking records or obtaining recognition from Guinness. She says someone else contacted Guinness on her behalf after her previous record in 2018.
Lama had spent most of her life above 4,500-5,000 meters before moving to Kathmandu as a teenager, learning Nepali and later English. She considers mountains her playground and home.
"A mountain doesn't care if you are a man or a woman," she tells CNN. "This is why I love mountains. They are always equal."
Lama's work also promotes equality in climbing. Currently, her clients are about 75% male and 25% female, but she hopes to have an equal number of female and male climbers in the future.
Already a summiter of Alaska's Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, Lama has aspirations to climb K2 in Pakistan, the world's second-highest peak.
This year, the climbing season at Mount Everest introduced new safety measures. For the first time, all climbers received tracking chips to wear so that it would be easier to locate and rescue lost individuals. In addition, climbers were required to carry their poop down the mountain in plastic bags to mitigate the increasing trash problem.
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After achieving the fastest ascent time on Mount Everest, Lama expressed her enthusiasm for exploring other mountains, such as K2 in Pakistan.
Despite the crowded nature of Mount Everest during the climbing season, some adventurous travelers opt for off-peak times or alternative routes to avoid the congestion.
Source: edition.cnn.com
