KATHMANDU: A Nepali father and son have become the first duo in history to summit Mount Everest twice together within a single climbing season.
Veteran mountain guide Chhangwa Sherpa and his son, Lakpa Tasi Sherpa, accomplished the unprecedented feat during the spring 2026 climbing season while working for Seven Summit Treks.
The pair reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain on two separate occasions within a span of just five days, 21 hours and 59 minutes, establishing a unique world record in Everest mountaineering history.
There was no advance announcement and no strategy to chase a record. The accomplishment unfolded naturally through their work as expedition guides. On May 17, 2026, at 5:30 a.m., father and son successfully guided Chinese climber Qiulong Peng to the summit of Everest at 8,848.86 metres.
After safely descending and returning to their duties, they prepared for another expedition. Less than six days later, at 3:29 a.m. on May 23, they stood on the summit once again while leading members of India’s elite NSG Black Cats Commando team. Only afterward did the significance of their achievement become clear.
“At that moment, as a father, I felt: how many actual father and son duos would there be who would have summited Everest like this? This was truly special,” Chhangwa Sherpa recalled following the second ascent.
Their journey began weeks earlier with the familiar route from Kathmandu to Lukla and onward through the Khumbu Valley to Everest Base Camp. For Chhangwa, it was a path he had traveled many times before.
Since entering the profession in 2017, he has built a reputation as one of Nepal’s most accomplished high-altitude guides. His son grew up watching expedition life from close quarters, witnessing his father’s departures for the world’s highest peaks before eventually choosing to follow the same path.
For Lakpa Tasi Sherpa, the 2026 season carried special significance. Although he had previously supported Everest expeditions, this season marked his first successful summit of the mountain. To achieve that milestone alongside his father was memorable enough. To repeat it less than a week later and establish a world record transformed the experience into a historic family achievement.
The record adds another chapter to an already distinguished climbing career for Chhangwa Sherpa. With the two ascents completed this season, he has now reached the summit of Everest ten times. His experience extends far beyond Everest.
Over the course of his career, he has accumulated successful ascents of Manaslu, Ama Dablam, Lhotse, Kangchenjunga, K2, Dhaulagiri and Annapurna, recording 35 summits across eight major Himalayan peaks. His mountaineering résumé reflects years of experience gained on some of the most challenging mountains on Earth.
For his son, however, the story is only beginning. Alongside his growing career in mountaineering, Lakpa Tasi continues his education and studies English, recognizing the importance of communication in an increasingly international profession. Like many younger Sherpa climbers, he represents a generation that is combining traditional mountain knowledge with formal education and global engagement.
The achievement also carries broader significance within Everest history. The first father-and-son team known to have summited Everest together was French pair Jean-Noël Roche and Bertrand “Zébulon” Roche, who reached the summit on October 7, 1990.
Chhangwa and Lakpa Tasi Sherpa’s accomplishment represents a different milestone entirely. They are the first father-son duo to complete two Everest summits together within a single season while guiding separate client expeditions.
Perhaps the most notable aspect of the record is the manner in which it was achieved. Neither ascent was undertaken for personal recognition. Both were professional assignments performed in service of clients. The historic accomplishment emerged as a by-product of experience, dedication and the demanding realities of high-altitude guiding.
Their story reflects a changing era in Himalayan mountaineering, one in which many of Everest’s most significant achievements are being recorded not by visiting climbers but by the Nepali professionals who work on the mountain year after year.
Chhangwa Sherpa’s decade of Everest summits and extensive experience across the world’s highest peaks represent a wealth of knowledge now being passed to the next generation through his son.
High above the Himalaya, before sunrise on two separate mornings in May 2026, father and son stood together on the highest point on Earth. Only later would they realize that, in simply doing their jobs, they had quietly made mountaineering history.
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