British climber Kenton Cool makes 19th ascent of Mount Everest

British climber Kenton Cool has successfully climbed Mount Everest for the 19th time, extending his own record on Sunday for the most summits* of the world’s highest mountain by a non-Sherpa*.

More than 50 climbers have reached the summit since the spring climbing season began this month, taking advantage of a brief run of good weather and typically calmer winds.

Mountain guide Cool, 51, first climbed Everest in 2004 and has since taken paying customers up the world’s highest peak almost every year.

“Kenton summited Everest for the 19th time at 11am Nepalese* time (0515 GMT*) on Sunday,” a post on his Instagram account said.

His 15th summit in 2021 tied him with American Dave Hahn for the most summits by a non-Nepali climber, and his summit the following year gave him a solo title.

Cool was once told he would not walk unaided again after a rock-climbing accident in 1996 that broke both his heel bones.

He told AFP in a 2022 interview after his 16th ascent that his Everest record was “not that amazing” in the context of Nepali climbers’ achievements.

“I’m really surprised by the interest … considering that so many of the Sherpas have so many more ascents*,” he said then.

Nepali climber and Sherpa Kami Rita, 55, is also attempting to break his own world record for the most Everest summits with his 31st climb.

Cool’s latest summit comes after at least two people – a Filipino and an Indian climber – died on Mount Everest last week.

Nepal has issued 458 climbing permits* to mountaineers this season and a city of tents hosting foreign climbers and support staff has built up at the foot of Everest.

A climbing boom has made mountaineering a profitable* business since Sir Edmund Hillary* and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay* made the first ascent in 1953.

Last year more than 800 climbers made it to the peak of Everest, including 74 from the northern Tibet*.

Most Everest hopefuls are escorted* by a Nepali guide, meaning more than 900 climbers will tread the path to the summit this season.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• summit: the top of a mountain, the peak, the highest point of a hill or mountain
• Sherpa: Tibetan people living on the high southern slopes of the Himalayas in eastern Nepal
• GMT: Greenwich Mean Time, at Greenwich, London, which from 1884 until 1972 was the international standard of civil time
• Nepal: landlocked South Asia country between China and India, lying along the southern slopes of the Himalayan mountain ranges
• ascents: climbs, hikes and walks up mountains and hills
• permits: official documents allowing you to do things or go places
• profitable: when something is making money or is likely to make more money than it costs
• Sir Edmund Hillary: New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist (1919 – 2008)
• Tenzing Norgay: born Namgyal Wangdi, Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer who accompanied Hillary as his guide in 1953, when they became the first people to set foot on top of Mt Everest
• Tibet: surrounded by mountain ranges, Tibet is the world’s highest and largest plateau and is known as “the roof of the world”; the mainly Buddhist territory is governed as part of China. The Tibetan side of Everest is on the northern rather than southern side
• escorted: took someone somewhere to protect, guide or supervise them

EXTRA READING

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Sherpa Kami summits Everest for record 25th time

Aussie teen’s triumphant Everest trek

QUICK QUIZ

1. How many times has Kenton Cool summited Mt Everest?
2. How many climbers have reached the summit since the spring climbing season began?
3. What significant event in 1996 has Cool overcome on his way to his record of achievement?
4. How many climbing permits has Nepal issued this season?
5. Which two climbers were the first to summit Mt Everest and in what year?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Everest expert
List the possible reasons as to why mountain guide Kenton Cool wants to continue conquering Everest since he’s already done it 19 times?

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Do you think he might be pushing his luck to continue trying to climb the largest mountain in the world with his clients?

How do you think people that want to scale Mount Everest choose a guide to assist them?

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
What are the advantages and disadvantages to Nepal to have these beautiful mountains bringing so many mountain climbers to the region?

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Geography, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue

Imagine you were there at the summit of Mt Everest with Kenton Cool.

Create a conversation with Mr Cool and another climber – you may need or want to include yourself as one of the characters. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.

Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.