KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 7

In a bid to complete the 'real' seven summits, senior tourism entrepreneur Lhakpa Sonam Sherpa has successfully scaled Mt Aconcagua (6,962 metres) in Argentina.

"Sherpa climbed the highest peak of South America on January 24 at 11:30am making successful ascent of six of the seven summits, which are the highest peaks on every continent till date," Yeti Airlines said in a statement.

Sherpa, who is also the chairman of Yeti Group, parent company of Yeti Airlines and Tara Air, aims to complete all seven summits by attempting the world's highest peak - Mt Everest - in the upcoming spring season.

"I found Sherpa a very courageous climber," Um Hong-gil, a legendary South Korean mountaineer, who was also part of the Aconcagua expedition as the base camp manager, shared after returning to Kathmandu last week.

Sherpa has already climbed Mt Denali (6,190 m) in North America, Mt Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) in Africa, Mt Elbrus (5,642 m) in Europe, Puncak Jaya/ Mt Carstensz (4,884 m) in Oceania, Mt Vinson (4,892 m) in Antarctica.

"It's really fun when I often spend my holidays in the mountains," Sherpa said, adding that he started climbing mountains after the 2015 earthquake shook the nation.

According to him, he chooses to use climbing as natural therapy. "I am not doing it to set any record though" he quipped. On the summit of the mountain, he hoisted the national flag and the flag of Yeti Airlines.

Sherpa, who organised hundreds of expeditions from his company - Thamserku Trekking - in the last four decades, would probably be the first Nepali to complete all seven summits including the summit of Mt Carstensz if he makes it to the top of Mt Everest in the upcoming spring season, Um Hong-gil disclosed.

Other Nepali climbers who completed seven summits had not climbed Mt Carstensz as they had opted for Mt Kosciuszko in Australia.

Climbing fraternity believes that the 'real' seven summits include Mt Carstensz rather than Mt Kosciuszko.

"His next target is to climb Mt Everest. Climbing the seven summits represents one of the biggest and most popular challenges in mountaineering," Yeti Airlines added.

Amidst a function, the Sherpa community from their ancestral Khumbu village congratulated Lhakpa Sonam and newly elected National Assembly member Sonam Gyalzen Sherpa in Kathmandu. "Lhakpa Sonam always wants to promote the country's tourism in the world market," Altitude Air Chairman Nima Nuru Sherpa said. "If everything goes as planned, he will certainly create history in the upcoming climbing season," Nima Nuru added.

National Assembly member Sonam Gyalzen termed Sherpa's leading role in the country's tourism sector as an inspiring one for all. "Being the first National Assembly member from the Sherpa community, I will try to do my best to address the tourism industry's concerns during my tenure," the CPN- UML leader added.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 8, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.