Kathmandu. Mountaineering Legend Ang Rita Sherpa was laid to rest following Buddhist traditions on Wednesday, two days after his death on Monday. He was accorded with national honors during his last rites.

On behalf of the government, the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yogesh Bhattarai covered the body with the national flag. A troop of the Nepal Army gave a guard of honor and rifle salute to the late Sherpa. Government officials, monks, nuns and mountaineers gathered together and paid tribute to the national icon.

Sherpa was popularly known as “Snow Leopard” for his prestigious Guinness World Record for climbing Everest 10 times without the aid of an Oxygen cylinder. Born on Solukhumbu, he began climbing Mt. Everest in 1983. He had climbed Mt. Ketu in Pakistan without supplementary oxygen as well. Furthermore, throughout his illustrious career, he climbed dozens of other mountains in Nepal including Choyu, Manaslu, Lhotse, Annapurna and Dhaulagiri. His latest ascent to Mt. Everest was in 1996.

Ang Rita was suffering from brain clots and liver ailments. His health condition had worsened after his eldest son’s death in 2012. In 2017, Sherpa suffered a brain stroke after which he was treated in the Neuro Hospital situated in Bansbari, Kathmandu. The former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), Ang Tshering Sherpa confirmed that the NMA was looking after the bills for his treatment.