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(Photo: Apa Sherpa website)
BEIJING (AP) -- Officials say a Nepalese Sherpa who lives in Salt Lake City has broken his own world record by climbing Everest for the 20th time Saturday.
Apa, who goes by one name, went up to collect garbage, a growing environmental problem on the mountain.
He first climbed the 29,000-foot mountain in 1989 and has repeated the feat almost every year since.
Apa grew up in the foothills of Everest and began carrying equipment and supplies for trekkers and mountaineers at age 12.
He moved to the United States in 2006 and lives in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper.
A Mountaineering Department official says several climbers took advantage of Saturday's clear weather to reach the summit. May is the most popular month for Everest climbs because of more favorable weather.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
