Kenton Cool has summited Mount Everest – the highest mountain in the world – for the 19th time, breaking his own record for the most number of summits by a foreign climber.
The British climber topped out on the 8,849m summit on Sunday 18 May at 11am local time (6.15am UK time) after ascending via the south route.
Kenton has been on the mountain with a private client for several weeks, acclimatising to the conditions and the altitude with rotations above base camp.
To reach the summit, the the team had to first pass through the Khumbu Icefall and make their way up via camps one, two and three to camp four, situated on the South Col.
From there, they had to set off along the south-east ridge, over the Hilary Step and the South Summit and onto the summit (find out more about Everest's anatomy here).
A post on Kenton's Instagram page confirmed the summit, stating: "Congratulations. Kenton summited Everest for the 19th time at 11am Nepalese time on Sunday 18th May 2025. We wish him a safe descent and will share more when we have it."
Furtenbach Adventures also shared a post that read: "All Signature and private guided members summited today 9.15am along with guides @paulguerrra_mountainguide, @ruperthauer and @kentoncool, and an outstanding Sherpa team under [the] lead of @kunga_sherpa_8848.86, @lmingmar306 and @dorjee.gyelzen."
The news not only makes him the foreign climber with the most ascents, but he's also now the British climber with the most summits to their name.
Summit success through the years
Kenton first summited Everest in 2004 and has been on the mountain pretty much every year since, though summits have eluded him on a couple of occasions due to the coronavirus pandemic and an earthquake.
Past clients that he's guided include Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Ben Fogle and Victoria Pendleton, though the latter was unable to make the summit due to hypoxia.
He's the first British guide to lead a client to the summit of K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth, and has previously set records for being the first person to summit Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse in one go.
Find out the lessons that Kenton has learnt over years of climbing from our interview with the mountain guide a couple of years ago.