Ang Rita


Ang Rita aka Angrita Sherpa is a mountain climber who has climbed Mount Everest ten times without the use of supplemental oxygen, and is thus known as "The Snow Leopard". When he made his sixth climb of Everest in 1990 he set the world record for the most number of successful ascents, eventually reaching 10 in 1996. He is a Sherpa born in 1948 in a small village called Yillajung in eastern Nepal.

Everest Summits

In just over 13 years Ang Rita reached the summit of Everest 10 times without the use of bottled oxygen, 8 of which were via the Southeast ridge route. His last summit occurred 12 days following the second deadliest disaster in Everest history, supporting Swedish climber Göran Kropp on the same day as the David Breashears IMAX expedition crew.
DateRoute to Summit
1.5/7/1983South Col/Southeast ridge
2.10/15/1984South Pillar
3.4/29/1985South Col/Southeast ridge
4.12/22/1987South Col/Southeast ridge
5.10/14/1988South Col/Southeast ridge
6.4/23/1990South Col/Southeast ridge
7.5/15/1992South Col/Southeast ridge
8.5/16/1993South Col/Southeast ridge
9.5/13/1995North Col/North ridge
10.5/23/1996South Col/Southeast ridge

Conservation

As a staff member with The Mountain Institute, Ang Rita participated in a task force that led in 1992 to the establishment of Makalu Barun National Park, an innovative protected area that combined biodiversity management with community development. Once the park was established, he served as its Conservation, Education, Tourism, and Natural Resource Officer. He later worked on the project entitled "Community-based Alpine Conservation and Restoration of the Mt. Everest Alpine Zone" and a number of other projects while at TMI, including Sacred Sites of the Khumbu Region and Lake to Lake: Food for Enterprise. Ang Rita received the Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal in 2011 for his contributions to these and other conservation efforts.