Kenton Cool season's first foreigner to scale Mt Everest

KATHMANDU: Mt Everest on Thursday morning recorded its first summit by the foreign expedition members of the season after the renowned British climber Kenton Cool along with a fellow mountaineer Robert Lucas and two Sherpa guides successfully reached to the top of the world's highest peak.

According to base camp officials, Kenton, 42, and Lucas, 53, stood at the top of the peak at 8:15 am becoming the first expedition members to have climbed the Mt Everest after 2014.

Kenton becomes the first Briton to climb Mt Everest for 12 times. Kenton also holds a record of the first mountaineer who climbed Mt Nuptse, Mt Everest and Mt Lhotse in a season in 2013.

"They left for summit immediately after nine Sherpas fixed climbing ropes to the summit point on Wednesday late in the afternoon," Iswari Paudel, owner of the Himalayan Guides told THT Online after holding satellite phone communications with summiteers.

Mountain guides of the HG Everest Expedition 2016 - Pemba Bhote from Hatiya, Sankhuwasabha and Dorchi Gyalzen, Khumjung, Solukhumbu - also reached to the summit along with the expedition members, Paudel added.

A few climbers have also headed for summit push while Kenton and team members have been descending to lower camps, base camp officials mentioned.

Meanwhile, Mexican climber David Liano Gonzalez along with his guide Pasang Rita Sherpa made it to top of the Mt Everest at 8:28 am, according to Gyanendra Shrestha, an official from the Department of Tourism.

The climbers were handled by the Asian Trekking, Shrestha, who is now at the base camp, added.