Nepalese climber Pemba Dorji Sherpa, who climbed Mount Everest in a record time, flashes the victory sign following his return to Kathmandu, 24 May 2004. The Nepalese Sherpa who sped up Everest in a record time of eight hours 10 minutes returned to a hero's welcome in Kathmandu, while saying he would not attempt the feat again.

PHOTO - TASR/AFP

KATHMANDU - Nepal confirmed on Thursday that an ace Sherpa climber had set a new record for the fastest ascent of Mount Everest, rejecting another Sherpa's claim that the feat was fake. Pemba Dorje Sherpa, 27, scaled the world's highest summit in 8 hours and 10 minutes in May, breaking the record of 10 hours and 56 minutes set in 2003 by another Sherpa, Lhakpa Gelu. Gelu challenged the new record saying it was not possible to reach the peak so fast and prompting Nepali authorities to order an investigation.

"His Majesty's Government has endorsed the world record ascent set by Pemba Dorje Sherpa, who climbed Mount Everest in 8 hours and 10 minutes," Nepal's Tourism Ministry said in a statement. It said a panel formed by the government to look into Gelu's claim had accepted him as the fastest climber on the basis of items he collected from the summit and produced before experts. He began the climb with a Swiss climber but went alone to the summit. Usually climbers take more than three days to cover the distance from base camp, at about 5,300 metres (17,380 feet), to the 8,850-metre (29,035-foot) summit of the mountain that straddles the border between Nepal and China. There is no way to monitor the activities of climbers above the base camp and the government usually relies on the accounts of climbers for information. A total of 1,584 climbers have reached the top of Everest from the Nepali and the Chinese sides since 1953. At least 185 people have died on its slopes. Reuters