Australian Steve Plain became the fastest climber to scale the seven highest peaks on each continent - often referred to as the "Seven Summits" - after reaching the top of Mount Everest on Monday.
The 36-year-old completed the feat in 117 days - nine days faster than the previous record - and was accompanied on his Everest expedition by Pemba Sherpa and British climber Jon Gupta.
"Words simply can't begin to describe what I can see and how I am feeling - it's very emotional," said Gupta via his "Mountain Expeditions" Facebook page.
"It took Steve Plain seven hours to reach the summit from Camp 4 on Everest," Plain's expedition organiser Iswari Paudel told The Himalayan Times.
The previous record for the fastest ascent of all seven peaks was held by Polish climber Janusz Kochanski in 2017.
In addition to Everest, the Seven Summits tasks climbers with scaling Denali in North America, Elbrus in Europe, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Vinson in Antarctica, Aconcagua in South America and Papua New Guinea's Carstensz Pyramid in Oceania.
Around 50 climbers reached the top of Mount Everest on Monday - the first foreign climbers to do so from the Nepal side this season, said Gyanendra Shrestha, a government official from the Everest base camp.
Among them was 69-year-old Chinese double amputee, Xia Boyu, who became the second person with artificial legs to reach the top of the 8,848-metre peak, said Shrestha.
Some 346 foreign climbers and their guides are vying to reach Everest's summit this spring climbing season during April and May.
