Nepal - Pasang Dawa Sherpa, also known as Pa Dawa, has reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 26th time, matching the previous world record held by fellow climbing guide Kami Rita Sherpa.

The 46-year-old reached the peak of the world's tallest mountain on Sunday morning and is now making his descent, Khimlal Gautam, a government liaison officer who is currently at Everest base camp, told dpa.

As per the Himalayan Database, which keeps track of mountaineering records in Nepal's Himalayas, Pa Dawa had climbed the peak 25 times before, including twice in 2022.

He hails from the sherpa settlement of Khumbu, the home to Everest and several other peaks, and has been working as a sherpa climbing guide since the late 1990s.

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Sherpas' mountaineering expertise and local knowledge is critical to the safe passage of the hundreds of climbers who ascend Everest every year.

Pa Dawa has now equaled the record of Kami Rita Sherpa, who climbed the peak 26 times in May 2022 at the age of 52.

He was among a group of climbers to climb the peak on Sunday, according to organizer Dawa Gyaljen Sherpa of Imagine Nepal Trek and Expeditions.

Kami Rita is currently guiding a US team and aiming to break his own record with a 27th climb of Everest, he told dpa earlier.

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It is unclear whether Pa Dawa will make another attempt this year.

Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 highest peaks, all above 26,000 feet.

A record 467 climbers – excluding the local sherpas – have obtained permits to climb the world's highest peak from the southern side in Nepal, according to Nepal's Department of Tourism.