KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 2

Two renowned climbers today scaled Cho Oyu completing their 13th 8000ers without using bottled oxygen.

According to the base camp officials, Mingma G Sherpa, Managing Director at Imagine Nepal Treks stood atop the 8,188-metre peak without using bottled oxygen this morning.

Mingma G, who aims to be the first Nepali climber to scale all 14 peaks without O2, along with Dawa Gyalje Sherpa also accompanied Pakistani climbers Sirbaz Khan and Naila Kiani, Macedonian cardiologist Sashko Kedev and Japanese climber Naoki Ishikawa to the summit point. Dawa Gyalje, Sirbaz, Sashko and Naoki also completed their 13th peak above 8,000m. Along with the team, Karma Sherpa, Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, Mingmar Sherpa, Phurba Sonam Sherpa, Rakesh Tamang, Ngima Nuru Sherpa and Dawa Jangbu Sherpa also scaled the mountain from the Tibetan side this morning.

Nims Purja

Similarly, celebrated climber Nirmal 'Nims' Purja also completed his 13th peak above 8,000m without using bottled oxygen. "We have faced very challenging weather here on Cho Oyu," Nims told THT over the phone from Tibet. "It took over three hours to locate the summit point," he added. Nims aims to be the world's fastest climber to complete all 14 peaks without using supplemental oxygen in just 17 months.

Along with the team, Tejan Gurung, 28, who left army commander job in the UK for mountain climbing, also completed his 13th peak above 8,000m as he scaled Cho Oyu this morning. "If he succeeds Mt Shishapangma next week, he will be the world's youngest to climb all 14 peaks at the age of 28 years and eight months," said Elite Exped. If everything goes as per the plan, Tejan will also be the first climber from the Gurung community to scale all 14 peaks.

All climbers including Mingma G and Nims will head for Shishapangma base camp tomorrow. "They will attempt to climb the mountain in a week," base camp officials said.

Mingma G climbed Mt Dhaulagiri, Mt Kanchenjunga and Mt Everest in 2022 without using supplemental oxygen. The IFMGA guide scaled Manaslu in 2021, G2 in 2019, Lhotse and Broad Peak in 2018, K2, Makalu and Nanga Parbat in 2017, G1 in 2016 and Annapurna in 2015 without using bottled oxygen.

Without using oxygen in 2022, Nims climbed Mt Kanchenjunga on May 07, Mt Everest on May 27 and Lhotse on May 28. In 2023, he also made it to the summit of Annapurna on 15 April and Mt Makalu on June 05 without using O2. If Nims climbs Shishapangma next week, he will complete the double ascents of all 14 peaks in a record four years. With today's Cho Oyu summit, Nims also made the highest number of summits – 43 – of the 8000-metre peaks.