Nepal

Without oxgyen aid, American woman set record on Mt Everest from Tibet side

Without oxgyen aid, American woman set record on Mt Everest from Tibet side

By Rajan Pokhrel

Mt Everest, known as Mt Qomolangma in Tibet, as seen from the Tibet side. Photo: AP

KATHMANDU: Thirty-three-year-old Melissa Arnot became the first American woman to successfully climb the world highest peak without using supplemental oxygen. She reached the summit on Monday from the Tibet side, according to Jiban Ghimire, the Managing Director at Shangri-La Nepal Treks. “Professional mountain guide and high-altitude climber also broke her own record of most summits made by an American woman after she stood atop the mountain for the sixth time,” he said, adding that Arnot was now descending safely to lower camps. She has held the most summits record by an American woman since 2013. Arnot had abandoned her attempt to summit Mt Everest without supplemental oxygen from Nepal side last year following the devastating earthquake that struck the country killing near 9,000 people. She is also associated with The Juniper Fund to support the Nepal earthquake victims. The northern route for Mt Everest summit also witnessed Carla Perez, an Ecuadorian climber, who became the sixth woman to summit the world’s highest peak without bottled oxygen, according to Nima Nuru Sherpa, Managing Director at Cho-Oyu Trekking Pvt Ltd. Sherpa informed that Perez stood atop the peak on Monday, becoming the first Latin American woman to climb Mt Everest without the aid of supplemental oxygen. With the latest achievement, she completed her third eight thousanders. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa resorted to Twitter to express his happiness over Perez's successful ascent.

...La buena noticia: Carla Pérez, andinista ecuatoriana, coronó el Everest sin oxígeno.pic.twitter.com/TnHdaQ4en2

— Rafael Correa (@MashiRafael) May 23, 2016 Similarly, National Geographic filmmaker Cory Richards also stood atop the mountain from the northern side without using supplemental oxygen on Monday evening. According to reports, the photojournalist was a part of an expedition team handled by Alpenglow Expeditions. Richards along with the team leader Adrian Ballinger had also appeared live on Snapchat and Instagram while being on the mountain, reports added. Big thanks to everyone who has been following EverestNoFilter on Snapchat. @alpenglowexp and I hear and feel the support. You kick ass!!!! — Cory Richards (@coryrichardsNG) May 21, 2016