Ang Rita Sherpa, the first person to climb Mount Everest 10 times, dies at 72

Ang Rita Sherpa, the first person to climb Mount Everest 10 times, has died after a long illness, his family has said, in what fellow sherpas called a major loss to Nepal and the climbing community, The Guardian reports.

All the ascents to the 8,850-metre (29,035ft) summit of the world’s tallest mountain between 1983 and 1996 by Ang Rita, who went by his first name, like many Sherpas, were made without bottled oxygen. He was among the first Sherpa guides to receive international fame for his accomplishments.

'We knocked the bastard off': rare photographs of Edmund Hillary's Everest expedition

The 72-year-old, who had suffered brain and liver ailments for a long time, died on Monday at his home in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu, his grandson, Phurba Tshering, told Reuters.

Ang Rita was also known as the “snow leopard” for his climbing skills.

“He was a climbing star and his death is a major loss for the country and for the climbing fraternity,” said Ang Tshering Sherpa, a former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.