Kathmandu  - A veteran Sherpa mountain guide on Thursday scaled Mount Everest for a record 18th time, beating his own record, mountaineering officials said Wednesday.

Appa Sherpa, 47, reached the 8,848-metre summit along with several other climbers in his Eco-Everest Expedition, said Ang Tshering Sherpa, chairman of Asian Trekkings, which organized the expedition.

Appa, who first scaled the world's highest mountain in 1989, climbed from the mountain's Nepalese side.

"The climbers took advantage of a break in the weather to push for the summit early Wednesday from their high-altitude Camp 4 at 7,950 metres above sea level," Ang Tshering said

The expedition was part of international efforts to remove garbage left on the peak by mountaineers and highlight climate change in the Himalayas.

Meanwhile, officials said 10 more climbers from the IMG Everest Expedition also reached the summit Thursday morning.

Officials said those reaching the summit were three Americans, a Romanian and a Canadian along with five Sherpa guides.

The Everest News website reported Pemba Dorje Sherpa and Mingma Chhiring Sherpa reached the summit for the sixth time while it was the third successful summit for Ang Namgya Sherpa and Jamling Bhote.

The website said the American climbers who reached the summit were Vance L Cook, Joseph P Yannuzzi and Kurt Alen Wedberb along with Adam Janikowski of Canada and Ciprian P Popciciu from Romania.

On Wednesday, 26 climbers, including 13 Nepalese and 13 people of other nationalities reached the summit.

Climbers are rushing to the summit after Everest expeditions were delayed this year because of a Nepalese government ban on climbing the peak until May 10 to facilitate Chinese plans to carry the Olympic torch to the summit.

The ban was imposed on China's request because of fears the torch relay might be disrupted by protesters. It reached the summit May 8 without any such disruptions.

According to the Nepalese government, 30 expeditions are currently attempting to climb Mount Everest.

May is considered the best time to climb the mountains in the Nepalese Himalayas before the monsoon makes the area almost inaccessible from June to October. (dpa)