Kenton Cool sets Everest record, while two Indian climbers die

Kenton Cool reached the summit of Mount Everest before dawn and then turned back toward the lower camps, extending his own record to 20 ascents even as two Indian climbers died on the mountain the same day. The British climber’s latest climb again pushed him beyond his previous mark of 19 summits, set in 2025, and an expedition organiser described him as “quietly rewriting the record books.”

Cool’s achievement is striking because Everest still demands a dangerous descent after the summit is reached. He was expected to arrive at Everest Base Camp over the weekend, a reminder that the hardest part of the climb often comes after the celebration. Even for one of the mountain’s most experienced foreign climbers, the route remains punishing: thin air, exhaustion, fixed ropes and fast-changing weather can turn success into survival work within hours.

The day’s triumph was shadowed by death. Two Indian climbers died on the mountain, bringing Everest’s season death toll to five. Earlier in the spring, Phura Gyaljen Sherpa, 21, died after slipping on snow and falling into a crevasse near Camp III at about 7,200 metres, or 23,620 feet. His death showed how the risks on Everest extend beyond summit fever and into the labor of Sherpa support teams who carry much of the physical burden of modern expeditions.

The fatalities have come during one of the busiest Everest seasons on record. Nepal’s Department of Tourism had issued a record 492 permits for the spring 2026 season by May 8, and more than 270 climbers reached the summit in a single day, setting a new high for one-day ascents. The spring window remains attractive because weather and wind are usually more manageable, but the concentration of climbers also intensifies congestion on the route and compresses risk into narrow summit days.

That tension between access and danger has defined this year’s climbing season. Kami Rita Sherpa reached his 32nd Everest summit in May, while Lhakpa Sherpa extended her women’s record with an 11th ascent. Together with Cool’s 20th climb, those milestones underline how Everest has become a place of repeat business for elite guides and seasoned climbers alike. But the mountain’s commercial scale, with 18 expedition companies operating on the southern route and crowds pushing into the same weather window, has also normalized exposure to risk. On Everest, record-setting seasons and fatal seasons are no longer separate stories.