Apa Sherpa - wikipedia Apa Sherpa Apa 1960 Thame, Nepal Nationality Nepalese Other names Apa Sherpa Appa Sherpa Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa Known for 21 ascents of Mount Everest Apa ( born Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa ; 20 January 1960 ), nicknamed `` Super Sherpa '', is a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer who, jointly with Phurba Tashi and Shishir Bhattarai, holds the record for reaching the summit of Mount Everest more times than any other person. As part of The Eco Everest Expedition 2011, Apa made his 21st Mount Everest summit in May 2011 then retired after a promise to his wife to stop climbing after 21 ascents. He first summited Everest in 1990 and his last time to the summit was in 2011. Apa met Edmund Hillary many times, and was on the Expedition with his son Peter Hillary in 1990, which was the first summit for both of them. Apa estimates he has been through the Khumbu Icefall about 1000 times and almost went with Rob Hall 's ill - fated 1996 expedition. He had this to say when questioned about stopping at 21, `` Everyone says 21 is a good number. I have to make my family happy. Every time I go, they worry because Everest is very risky... '' Contents 1 Early life 2 Personal life 3 Climbing career 3.1 Ascents of Mount Everest 3.2 May 2009 ascent 3.3 May 2011 ascent 4 Great Himalayan Trail 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Early life Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa was born in Thame, a village in the Everest region of Nepal, near the Chinese border. Following his father 's death when he was 12 years old, Apa had to take up the responsibilities of his family, consisting of his mother, two sisters and three young brothers. He dropped out of school and earned money working as a porter for mountaineering groups. His climbing career began in 1985, and he worked as a kitchen boy and porter for various groups but was not given the opportunity to reach the summit until 1990. Personal life Apa married Yangjin, then also a resident of Thame, in 1988 and has two sons -- Tenjing and Pemba -- and a daughter Dawa. A fourth child died in 2004. In December, 2006, the family moved to the United States with the help of his friend Jerry Mika to provide their children a better education and for business opportunities. They live in Draper, Utah. In April 2009, Apa founded the Apa Sherpa Foundation, dedicated to the improvement of education and economic development in Nepal. When not on expeditions, Apa works for Diamond Mold, a precision machining and injection molding company in Salt Lake City, Utah that has also supported his foundation. Climbing career Apa first reached the summit of Mount Everest on his fourth attempt, on May 10, 1990, with a New Zealand team led by climber Rob Hall along with Peter Hillary, son of Edmund Hillary. He then began his career as Sirdar, or chief Sherpa, for many high altitude expeditions. He has reached the summit every year between 1990 and 2011, bar 1996 and 2001 ; all but three times have been in May, and in 1992 he reached the summit twice. Apa in his May 2010 Trek says that climbing to Everest has become tough due to the melting of ice and rock surfaces. He sees visible changes on the Everest summit due to global warming. Ascents of Mount Everest Apa has now climbed Mount Everest a total of 21 times, which stands as the current record. Aside from these 21 ascents, however, Apa has also participated in unsuccessful attempts. # Date Expedition May 10, 1990 International May 8, 1991 Sherpa Support / American Lhotse May 12, 1992 New Zealand October 7, 1992 Everest International 5 May 10, 1993 American 6 October 10, 1994 Everest International 7 May 15, 1995 American On Sagarmatha 8 April 26, 1997 Indonesian 9 May 20, 1998 EEE 10 May 26, 1999 Asian - Trekking 11 May 24, 2000 Everest Environmental Expedition 12 May 16, 2002 Swiss Everest 50th Anniversary Expedition 1952 -- 2002 13 May 26, 2003 American Commemorative Expedition 14 May 17, 2004 Dream Everest Expedition 2004 15 May 31, 2005 Climbing for a cure 16 May 19, 2006 Team No Limit 17 May 16, 2007 Super Sherpas 18 May 22, 2008 The Eco Everest Expedition 19 May 21, 2009 The Eco Everest Expedition 20 May 22, 2010 The Eco Everest Expedition 21 May 11, 2011 The Eco Everest Expedition May 2009 ascent Apa broke his own record by reaching the summit of Everest for the nineteenth time on May 21, 2009. He was a member of The Eco Everest Expedition, led by Bill Burke, whose purpose was to raise awareness about climate change. The team spent half an hour at the top of the mountain, unfurling a banner that said `` Stop Climate Change ''. The team brought down five tonnes of mountain trash that includes parts of a crashed helicopter, tin cans and climbing material. On this expedition, a friend and fellow Sherpa, Lhakpa Nuru, was swept away in an avalanche on May 7, 2009, and died. May 2011 ascent Apa again broke his own record by reaching the summit of Everest for the twenty - first time on May 11, 2011. Great himalayan Trail On April 2012, he successfully led the first expedition to complete the Great Himalaya Trail, a 1,700 - kilometre ( 1,050 - mile ) trek spanning the entire length of the Nepalese Himalayas. The Great Himalaya Trail is considered to be one of the world 's most difficult treks. Sherpa and three companions set off in January on the Climate Smart Celebrity Trek, an expedition promoting tourism and highlighting the effects of climate change. The adventurers set out from the shadow of the world 's third - highest peak, Mount Kanchenjunga, in the east and finished at Nepal 's border with Tibet in the west, 20 days ahead of schedule. Along the way they traversed some of the world 's most rugged landscapes, ascending beyond 6,000 metres ( 19,600 feet ). Dawa Steven Sherpa, a member of the expedition who has climbed Everest twice, said the group found mountain communities that rely on subsistence farming were suffering the effects of climate change. See also List of Mount Everest summiters by number of times to the summit List of 20th - century summiters of Mount Everest Lhakpa Sherpa Phurba Tashi References ^ Jump up to : `` The Sherpas of Everest Series : Apa Sherpa ''. EverestHistory.com. Archived from the original on 2009 - 06 - 25. Retrieved 2009 - 05 - 21. ^ Jump up to : `` The world 's most renowned Sherpa talks Mt. Everest ''. Washington Post. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 2016 - 03 - 01. ^ Jump up to : `` World Record : Apa Sherpa 's Everest summit no 21 ''. Jump up ^ Clash, Jim. `` Meet The Man Who Has Been To The Top Of Everest A World Record 21 Times ''. Forbes. Retrieved 2017 - 05 - 19. Jump up ^ Clash, Jim. `` Meet The Man Who Has Been To The Top Of Everest A World Record 21 Times ''. Forbes. Retrieved 2017 - 05 - 19. Jump up ^ Clash, Jim. `` Meet The Man Who Has Been To The Top Of Everest A World Record 21 Times ''. Forbes. Retrieved 2017 - 05 - 19. Jump up ^ Clash, Jim. `` Meet The Man Who Has Been To The Top Of Everest A World Record 21 Times ''. Forbes. Retrieved 2017 - 05 - 19. Jump up ^ Clash, Jim. `` Meet The Man Who Has Been To The Top Of Everest A World Record 21 Times ''. Forbes. Retrieved 2017 - 05 - 19. Jump up ^ Fahys, Judy ( 2007 - 01 - 19 ). `` Utah 's own sherpa to set record on Everest ''. The Salt Lake Tribue. Jump up ^ `` Sixteen summits later : Everest climber begins a new life in Utah ''. The Santa Fe New Mexican. 2006 - 12 - 28. Jump up ^ Gorrell, Mike. `` Climber from Nepal reaches for personal summit in SLC ''. The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on 18 May 2009. Retrieved 2009 - 05 - 21. Jump up ^ `` World record holder Apa Sherpa to create new foundation ''. Archived from the original on 9 May 2009. Retrieved 2009 - 05 - 21. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Archived November 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ ( 2 ) Jump up ^ Howe, Steve. `` The Porters ' Progress ''. Backpacker. Archived from the original on 2012 - 02 - 23. Retrieved 2015 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Another man conquers highest peak ''. Aiken Standard. 10 May 1990. Jump up ^ `` WWF - Climate Witness : Apa Sherpa, Nepal ''. Wwf.panda.org. 2009 - 10 - 15. doi : 10.1007 / s10584 - 009 - 9555 - 9. Archived from the original on 2015 - 06 - 21. Retrieved 2015 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Climate change making Everest more dangerous : Sherpa ''. Physorg.com. Retrieved 2015 - 06 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Utahn Apa Sherpa tops Everest for the 19th time ''. The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 2009 - 05 - 21. Jump up ^ `` Sherpa swept away in Mount Everest avalanche ''. The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 2009 - 05 - 21. Jump up ^ `` Appa summits Everest for 19th time ''. Republica. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 2009 - 05 - 21. ^ Jump up to : `` Nepal 's ' Super Sherpa ' crosses the Himalayas ''. AFP. Retrieved 25 April 2012. External links ApaSherpa.com ( Official Website ) Apa Sherpa Foundation Portrait Painting of Apa Sherpa Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apa_Sherpa&oldid=828296270 '' Categories : 1960 births Living people People from Solukhumbu District Nepalese mountain climbers Sherpa summiters of Mount Everest Nepalese Buddhists Nepalese expatriates in the United States Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from June 2015 Articles with hCards Talk Contents About Wikipedia Dansk Deutsch Español فارسی 한국어 हिन्दी Italiano ქართული Magyar मराठी नेपाली ଓଡ଼ିଆ Polski Русский Slovenčina Svenska Tagalog Українська 中文 10 more Edit links This page was last edited on 1 March 2018, at 19 : 01. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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Question: who has been to the summit of everest the most
Answer: Apa Sherpa