Cancer survivor US climber summits Mt Everest in record 9 hours, 55 min

May 29, 2026

American endurance athlete and mountaineer Tyler Andrews, a 36-year-old cancer survivor, became the first non-Sherpa climber to hold Mount Everest’s South Base Camp speed record after climbing from Nepal’s 5,364m Base Camp to the 8,848.86m summit in 9 hours and 55 minutes.

Andrews broke the 23-year-old benchmark of 10 hours and 56 minutes set by Nepali climber Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa in 2003—a record that endured through two decades of increasingly commercialized Everest expeditions.

The feat marks an incredible personal milestone for Andrews. At the age of six, he was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare condition that prevents the body from producing enough blood cells, and underwent several rounds of chemotherapy before recovering to pursue ultra-endurance sports. THE TIMES OF INDIA