Super sherpa's new Everest record

Appa Sherpa first climbed Mt Everest in 1989

A Nepali sherpa has climbed Mt Everest for a 17th time, beating his own record for most successful ascents of the world's highest peak, officials say.

Appa Sherpa, 46, reached the 8,850m (29,035ft) summit with seven other sherpas and a foreign climber, the Nepal Mountaineering Association said.

The so-called "super sherpas" were on a climb to raise money for children of Nepalese mountain guides.

More than 1,400 people have climbed the peak since it was first scaled in 1953.

More than 180 have died while attempting to reach the summit.

Charity climb

"Despite bad weather, Appa Sherpa and seven others from his team reached the top of Everest," the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association Ang Tsering Sherpa told the AFP news agency.

More than 1,400 people have scaled the peak

Other climbers to scale the mountain on Wednesday included Appa's climbing partner, Lakpa Gyelu, who climbed the mountain for the 13th time.

Lakpa Gyelu joined hands with Appa Sherpa for the climb to "highlight the role of the sherpas and the Nepali people since the historic summit of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953", according to the super sherpas website.

Sherpas, local Himalayan tribesmen, have been used as guides and porters by mountaineering teams climbing Everest.

Appa first climbed the mountain in 1989.

He has used the money from each ascent to feed his family and put his four children through school.

He came out of retirement in 2003 to climb the peak again for the 50th anniversary of the first climb.