Norwegian woman, Nepali sherpa become world's fastest to climb all 14 tallest peaks

In a world record achievement, Norwegian woman mountaineer Kristin Harila and Nepali guide Tenzen Sherpa set the record for the fastest summit of all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre mountains on the globe in 92 days on Thursday.

Tenzen made his debut in the world of eight-thousander climbs through Pune-based Giripremi’s Cho Oyu- Dhaulagiri expedition in 2016 - and is a regular visitor to India.

More than 40 people have summited the world's top 14 peaks, only a few of them women - and that makes it a big record of sorts.

Read | 'Because it's there': The enduring appeal of Everest

There are only 14 mountains in the world which are over 8000m / 26247ft above sea level. They are known as the ‘eight-thousanders’. These mountains are all located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges – across Nepal, Tibet (China) and Pakistan.

Pune-based mountaineering club Giripremi congratulated the duo on the achievement.

Kristin Harila (37) and Tenzen Sherpa (35), who is popularly known as Lama, scaled K2, which is the world’s second highest at 8,611 metres (28,251 feet) with eight other guides, creating the new record.

Kristin and Tenzin set the fastest climbing record by beating Nirmal Purja - a Nepal-born British-adventurer - who completed all peaks in six months and one week in 2019.

“Many congrats to Norway's Kristin Harila and Nepal's Tenzen Sherpa for achieving a spectacular feat in mountaineering - Climbing 14 8000ers in record 92 days!,” said veteran Pune-based mountaineer Umesh Zirpe, who is leader of Giripremi’s 8000ers and Director of Guardian Giripremi Institute of Mountaineering.

“Giripremi is immensely proud of this feat as we share a strong bond of Himalayan climbing with Tenjen Sherpa who had been a part of Giripremi's Quest of 8000ers in Mt. Dhaulagiri, Mt. Manaslu and Mt. Kangchenjunga,” Zirpe told DH from Nepal on Thursday evening.

Nepal's Peak Promotion Pvt. Ltd also played a key role in tagging him in the 8000er league.

During the expedition to Dhaulagiri, along with Prasad Joshi, and Mingma Dorchi Sherpa, Tenjen made his first successful ascent to the 8000er peak. Since then he has been a part of Giripremi's Mt. Manaslu expedition in 2017 and Mt. Kangchenjunga Expedition in 2019.

The 14 8000er mountain peaks are: Everest, K2, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho You, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, Nanga Parbat, Annapurna I, Gasherbrum I, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II and Shishapangma.