Welcome home, Nima Rinji Sherpa!

He’s just 18. But he has climbed all 14 of the tallest mountains in the world. When he returned home to Nepal in the fall, people hailed him as a hero.

Nima Rinji reached the 26,335-foot summit of Mount Shishapangma in China in early October. Mission accomplished! He became the youngest person to climb every mountain on Earth that measures more than 26,247 feet high. The last person to hold this record was 30 years old. 

Fellow Sherpas and supporters lined up. They offered flowers and scarves to the climber.

“I am very happy and I want to say thank you so much everyone. It was a difficult mission but finally I was able to be successful,” Nima Rinji says.

He comes from a well-known family in the Sherpa mountaineering community. (A Sherpa is a member of a people group in the mountains of China, India, and Nepal.) 

Sherpas are famous for their skills on the world’s highest peaks. Once, the Sherpas were mostly known for assisting climbers from nations in Western Europe and North America. But lately Sherpas are breaking records for themselves. 

After his latest and final climb, Nima Rinji dedicated his climb to other Sherpa climbers. “Mountaineering is more than labor,” he wrote on Instagram. “It is a testament to our strength, resilience, and passion.” He says he wants to inspire the younger generation of Sherpas.

“We are not just guides,” he wrote. “We are trailblazers.”

Why? People have always been drawn to the world’s highest peaks. But climbing those mountains takes great preparation.