KATHMANDU: A Nepali mountaineer broke his own world record on Wednesday by summitting Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for a breathtaking seventeenth time.

Mountaineering officials in Kathmandu said the staggering achievement by Appa Sherpa and his team was a proud day for the impoverished Himalayan nation, whose climbers have long been eclipsed by their higher-profile foreign counterparts.

“Despite bad weather, Appa Sherpa and seven others from his team reached the top of Everest at 8:45am (0300 GMT),” the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), Ang Tsering Sherpa said.

The mountaineers stayed at the summit of the 8,848-metre (29,198-foot) peak for around 15 minutes and offered prayers for world peace before beginning their descent, he said.

“This is historic moment in mountaineering. Appa has once again proved why he is the best when it comes to climbing Everest,” said Gyalzen Sherpa, the managing director of World Record Expeditions, which has been managing the “Super Sherpa” team.

Appa Sherpa, 47, is leading a team of seven sherpas and one foreign climber who were scaling Everest to highlight the role of local mountain guides. “Foreign climbers do it for adventure but most of the Sherpas do it for bread and butter -- to support the family,” Appa said in an interview before the record-breaking climb.—AFP