British mountaineer Kenton Cool has made history by climbing Mount Everest for the 20th time-the most ever by a non-Sherpa climber. He reached the 8,849-meter summit early Friday morning local time, accompanied by his Sherpa guide Dorjee Gyelzen.
Lukas Furtenbach, a four-time Everest climber and expedition organizer with Furtenbach Adventures, called Cool an "absolute legend" for making the climb look "like just another walk in the hills."
Earlier in the week, veteran guide Kami Rita Sherpa scaled the peak for a record 32nd time. He has been climbing for more than three decades and has over 40 summits above 8,000 meters.
Officials reported a record 270 climbers and guides successfully reached the top from the Nepal side on Wednesday, taking advantage of clear spring weather. Two Indian climbers died while descending the mountain on Thursday.
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first known climbers to summit Everest in 1953.