Tyler Andrews claims record Everest summit in 9 hours, 55 minutes

Tyler Andrews said he climbed Mount Everest in 9 hours and 55 minutes, cutting 61 minutes off the long-standing speed record for the world’s highest peak. The 36-year-old U.S. ultrarunner and mountaineer made the ascent from Everest Base Camp on the south side with supplementary oxygen, a method that sits at the center of modern Everest speed attempts and the debate over how much such records reflect endurance versus logistics.

According to his team, Andrews left Everest Base Camp at 7:11 p.m. Nepal time on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, and reached the summit at 5:06 a.m. on Thursday, May 28, 2026. The mark, if formally confirmed by Nepal’s mountain authorities, would break the previous fastest known time of 10 hours and 56 minutes set in 2003 by Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, one of the best-known names in Everest speed climbing.

The attempt unfolded near the end of the 2026 climbing season, with Nepal reportedly planning to close Everest on May 29. One report said more than 950 climbers had already reached the summit this season, underscoring how crowded the mountain has become even as elite teams pursue ever faster ascents on the standard south-side route. National Geographic identified Nepali guide Dawa Steven as the expedition leader, and noted that Andrews’ climb followed the mountain’s most popular line, where fixed ropes and other route support can be decisive.

That support is part of what makes Everest speed records so contested. Climbers still face thin air, freezing temperatures and a long push above 8,000 meters, but they also benefit from an industry built around guiding, rope fixing, weather forecasting and oxygen logistics. Andrews’ effort used supplementary oxygen, the same category that defined the previous record and remains central to the argument over whether these times should be compared with unsupported alpine ascents elsewhere in the Himalayas.

The timing also came against a grim season on the mountain. One report said five people had died on Everest in 2026, while 2023 remained the deadliest recent season with 18 deaths. For Andrews, the claim now moves from team announcement to official review, and the final judgment will rest with Nepal’s mountain authorities, whose verification standards determine whether a summit time becomes a record or only a claim.