May 9: This year's spring mountaineering expedition to Everest has started after the fixing of ropes on the world's highest peak by a group of Sherpa climbers completed on Saturday.

As part of the rope fixing, mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa, 52, reportedly scaled the world's highest peak for a record 26th time, breaking his own previous record for climbing Mt Everest.    
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Department of Tourism confirmed the beginning of the mountaineering season from Saturday.    
At present, around 90 percent mountaineers at the Mt Everest Base Camp are waiting for the green signal to climb the peak, said Surya Prasad Upadhyay, director of the Department's mountaineering section.    
"As part of the rope fixing, Kami Rita Sherpa reached atop Everest for a record 26 times. We will officially announce the news after verifying it," he said.    
The department is expected to get the highest number of application for climbing Mount Everest as this season is favourable to scale the world's highest peak.    
A team of 11 Sherpa summiteers from the Seven Summit Treks Pvt Ltd successfully scaled the peak for rope fixing on Saturday evening at 6:55 pm. The team announced that Everest is ready for climbing. Last year, the spring climbing season started from April 27. -- RSS