In this file photo taken on May 2, 2021, Nepal's mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa poses for a picture during an interview with AFP at a base camp of Mount Qomolangma. (PHOTO / AFP)

KATHMANDU - A Nepali sherpa scaled Mount Qomolangma, which is known as Mount Everest in the West, for a record 27th time on Wednesday, beating his own record, a government official and his hiking company said.

Kami Rita Sherpa, 53, scaled the 8,849 meter mountain early in the morning along the traditional southeast ridge route, guiding a foreign climber.

"Yes, Kami Rita climbed Sagarmatha for the 27th time," said Department of Tourism official Bigyan Koirala, referring to the mountain by its Nepali name.

In this file photo taken on Jan 19, 2021, Nepal's mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa poses with his Guinness World Record certificates inside his rented room at the Boudhanath Stupa area on the outskirts of Kathmandu. (PHOTO / AFP)

Thaneswar Guragai, general manager of the Seven Summit Treks, for which Kami Rita works, said he got to the summit at 8.30 am (0245 GMT) along with the foreign climber.

"We're trying to get details. For now it's 100 percent confirmed that Kami Rita scaled for the 27th time,” Guragai said.

Kami Rita, who refers to himself by his first names, scaled Mount Qomolangma for the first time in 1994 and has climbed it almost every year since then, except in 2014, 2015 and 2020, when climbing was halted for various reasons

Kami Rita, who refers to himself by his first names, scaled Mount Qomolangma for the first time in 1994 and has climbed it almost every year since then, except in 2014, 2015 and 2020, when climbing was halted for various reasons.

ALSO READ: Nepali climbs Mt Qomolangma for record 25 times

Kami Rita, who comes from Thame village in the Solukhumbu district, home to Mount Qomolangma and other peaks, could not be reached for comment as he was descending to lower camps on Wednesday.

His company said in a statement he had "dedicated his life to mountaineering and has become synonymous with the world's highest peak".

Sherpas are known for their climbing skills and many make a living guiding foreign clients up Mount Qomolangma and other mountains.

May is the ideal time for tying to reach the top of Mount Qomolangma, with clear weather before the monsoon arrives from the south, bringing cloud and snow to the peaks and rain to the low lands.

ALSO READ: Sherpa guide tries to reach top of the world for 22nd time

In this file photo dated March 26, 2020, Mount Qomolangma (centre, left) and other mountain peaks are pictured from Namche Bazar, some 140 km northeast of Kathmandu. (PHOTO / AFP)

This year, Nepal has issued 478 permits, the most ever, for people to climb Mount Qomolangma in the peak March-May season compared with the previous record of 408 in 2021.

Dangerous overcrowding can develop, especially at a bottleneck called the Hillary Step, just below the summit. In 2019, nine exhausted climbers died near the summit after queues built up of climbers going up and down.

Climbing contributed $5.8 million to state coffers this year, $5 million of it from Mount Qomolangma, according to government data.

Mount Qomolangma has been climbed more than 11,000 times, from both the Nepali and Tibetan sides, since it was first scaled in 1953, with many people going up multiple times.

READ MORE: Sherpa climber scales Mount Qomolangma for record 23rd time

More than 320 people have died on the mountain, hiking officials said.