Records broken as crowds reach Mt Everest summit

Forty-nine years after his grandfather became one of the first two men to climb Mount Everest, Tashi Wangchuk Tenzing today reached the top of the world’s highest peak.

It was one of the most crowded days ever on the summit.

Climbers broke three records as 54 Westerners and Nepali Sherpa guides took advantage of good weather.

Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary were the first to reach the summit on May 29, 1953.

Hillary’s son, Peter, 47, was also on the mountain today.

He and Tenzing were in different expeditions but planned to meet on the summit to begin a year of celebrations in the countdown to the 50th anniversary of their forefathers’ ascent.

Nepal’s tourism ministry said Tenzing, 37, reached the top early today. It was not clear when Hillary was expected to make it.

Also scaling Everest was Appa, 43, a veteran Sherpa guide who reached the summit for the 12th time, shattering his own record set last year.

Ellen Miller, 43, of Asheville, North Carolina, climbed the mountain from the southern side, becoming the first American woman to scale the peak from the northern and southern sides, Nepal’s Tourism Ministry said.

Miller climbed Everest from the northern side last year.

Phil and Susan Ershler of Bellevue, Washington state, also reached the peak today, becoming the first married couple to climb the highest peaks on each of the world’s seven continents together, their spokesman in the US said.

Nepal’s Tourism Ministry said dozens of mountaineers took advantage of a break in the bad weather and made their final push to the summit last night.

There are 11 teams of about a dozen climbers each, plus their Sherpa guides on the slopes. Most were expected to try for the summit in the next few days.

The climbers lined up on the narrow path leading to the 29,035ft summit, with most of them reaching the top in the morning.

They had all left the last camp at 26,250ft last night and trekked up the icy slopes in the dark.

Everest has been climbed more than 1,000 times. Authorities say 180 climbers have died on its unpredictable slopes.

The official mountaineering season ends on May 31, when the climbers must be back to base camp, as monsoon rains make climbing too difficult and dangerous.