A Trailblazing Teen

Nima Rinji is showing the world the powerful spirit of the Sherpa people as he climbs the tallest mountains on Earth.

A family member carries Nima Rinji Sherpa after the 18-year-old became the youngest person to climb all 14 of the world’s highest peaks.

Nima Rinji Sherpa has already climbed his way to the top of the record books and is going for more. Nima is the youngest person to have climbed the world’s 14 tallest peaks, completing the feat by the age of 18. As a member of the Himalayan Sherpa ethnic group, Nima is also working to break stereotypes about what mountaineering stars look like on the global stage.

Nima began his record-breaking journey in 2022 when he climbed Nepal’s Manaslu Mountain, which reaches 26,781 feet (8,163 meters) in elevation. Within two years, he had summited the remaining “eight-thousanders”—the peaks with an altitude above 8,000 meters (26,000 feet). These peaks are in the “death zone” because they’re so high that the human body will start to shut down due to the lack of oxygen.

These images show Nima Rinji Sherpa and some of the mountains he has climbed.

Nima celebrated each success on social media with the hashtag #SherpaPower. The Sherpas are a mountain-dwelling ethnic group that lives in Nepal, India, and the region of China called Tibet. Because of their connection to high-altitude living, many Sherpas work in the mountaineering industry as climbing guides. As a result, there’s a common misconception that the word Sherpa refers to someone who helps mountaineering stars. This misunderstanding has led to the false belief that Sherpa people are merely support staff, even though they climb alongside their clients.

Nima is among those helping to change these stereotypes. Increasingly, Sherpas are breaking climbing records and running their own guiding businesses. Nima says his dream is to train more young Nepalis to be adventure heroes, while also honoring past Sherpa climbers who never received recognition.

“The generation before us, they are the pioneers, [and] we’re climbing the route that they established,” said Nima in an interview with CNN. “But I’m just so happy that I’m living in this moment right now, [because] so much is happening in the world of mountaineering. And as a younger generation, we’ll always try to do something better.”

NEWS EXTRA

Olympic Highlights!

Kokomo Murase of Japan competes in the women’s big air final at the 2026 Olympic Games.

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games are in full swing in Italy! Don’t worry if you’ve been missing the action—the Games will continue until February 22.

Here’s just a taste of what has happened so far.

Two athletes from Japan won big medals—gold—for catching big air. In big air snowboarding, athletes go down a ramp and then do a trick in the air. Kokomo Murase completed a trick called a frontside triple 14 to win the gold medal in the women’s big air finals. Kira Kimura won the gold medal in the men’s big air finals with a trick called the Run 3 switch backside 1980.

Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland is the reigning king of alpine skiing! The 24-year-old won gold in all three alpine events: the downhill, the super-G, and the men’s team combined. On the women’s side, Olympic legend Lindsey Vonn of the United States broke her leg in the downhill race, ending her attempt to make a comeback. American Breezy Johnson won the gold medal.

Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France took home the gold medal in ice dancing. The pair defeated three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States, who had been favored to win. Chock and Bates came in second, winning the silver medal.

Italian speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida won gold medals in the women’s 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter races, bringing her Olympic career medal total to four. The home crowd cheered when Lollobrigida completed the 5,000-meter race just 0.10 seconds before Merel Conijn of the Netherlands, who won the silver. Lollobrigida has now won more Olympic medals than any other Italian speed skater in the history of the Games.

Did You Know?

The tallest mountain and the highest mountain are not the same! The tallest mountain on Earth is Mauna Kea in Hawaii, which is 33,500 feet (10,210 meters) tall from its base to its peak. It doesn’t seem so tall because much of the mountain is hidden in the ocean.

On Top of the World

Jamling Tenzing Norgay, http://www.tenzing-norgay-trekking.de (CC BY 3.0)

Edmund Hillary (left) and Tenzing Norgay pose for a photo after completing the first successful ascent of Mount Everest.

Let’s play a little trivia game: What is the highest mountain on Earth? That is easy—it’s Mount Everest in Nepal! Who were the first people to reach its summit? If you said Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary, then you win! This climbing pair became the first people to set foot on the world’s highest point on May 29, 1953.

Both Hillary and Tenzing grew up climbing mountains on opposite sides of the globe, but the drive to conquer Everest caused their paths to converge. Hillary was a mountain climber from New Zealand, and Tenzing was a Nepali-Indian Sherpa who had been working on the slopes of Everest since he was a teenager.

In this 1953 photo, Edmund Hillary (left) and Tenzing Norgay stand on the southeast ridge of Mount Everest.

Until the 1953 expedition, many had tried and failed to reach Everest’s peak. Some had even died in the attempt. For the 1953 trek, hundreds of local porters and 20 guides, including head guide Tenzing, supported just 10 foreign mountain climbers including Hillary. The expedition battled through many equipment challenges and harsh conditions to camp within range of the summit. Another pair in the group, Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, nearly made it to the peak on May 26, but had to turn back due to exhaustion.

The expedition team decided Hillary and Tenzing should be the next pair to attempt the summit. Early on May 29 the two set out, climbing over snow and ice for hours before achieving the seemingly impossible. Tenzing and Hillary stood at the top of the world for only 15 minutes before going back to camp. Today, that brief moment is marked in history forever.

Point Me to the North Pole!

Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress, Washington D.C. (LC-USZC4-7503)

This photo of Matthew Henson was taken around 1910.

It can be hard to know if someone is among the first to reach a remote spot, particularly if no one is sure where that spot is! African American explorer Matthew Henson was one of the first people to reach the North Pole…or was he?

Read more about the success and uncertainty of Henson’s Arctic expedition at Britannica!

WORD OF THE WEEK

dauntless

PART OF SPEECH:

adjective

Definition:

: very brave

Definitions provided by

Sudoku

How many words can you make with these letters? All words must use the center letter.

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