KATHMANDU (AFP) - - A 48-year-old Nepalese Sherpa broke his own world record Thursday by conquering Mount Everest for a breathtaking eighteenth time.

Appa Sherpa, who hails from a village at the base of the world's highest peak, topped out in the early hours of the morning, the head of Nepal's Mountaineering Association told AFP.

"Appa Sherpa summitted Everest at 5:45 am (0000 GMT) this morning. He has set the new world record as it is the eighteenth time he has got to the top," Ang Tsering Sherpa said.

"This is another proud moment for the whole mountaineering fraternity."

Appa Sherpa, known as one of Nepal's "Super Sherpas" -- hardened local climbers with almost superhuman stamina -- was among 37 climbers taking advantage of the good weather to reach the summit Thursday morning.

Twenty-seven others reached the peak Wednesday.

Appa's closest competition -- trailing at 15 ascents -- is 42-year-old Nepalese climber Chhewang Nima.

This spring's other aspiring recordbreakers include 75-year-old adventurer Yuichiro Miura of Japan and 77-year-old Nepalese Min Bahadur Sherchan, who are both vying to become the oldest person to conquer Everest.

Retired Japanese schoolteacher Katsusuke Yanagisawa, 71, set that record last year. The youngest climber was 15-year-old Nepalese Temba Chheri in 2001.

Appa Sherpa bagged his first Everest summit in 1990, and has been making the climb into the "death zone" look like child's play ever since.

The communities living around the mountain are essential for commercial expeditions.

They lay out kilometres of ropes and prepare camps, and Appa Sherpa -- who started climbing in 1987 -- was quickly recognised as someone who foreign expeditions wanted on their team.

This year he reached the summit with the Eco Everest expedition, an international team aiming to highlight the effects of global warming in the Himalayas as well as test ecologically sound mountaineering practices.

"He wasn't planning on trying for another summit, but he joined the Eco Everest expedition as he wanted to raise awareness about melting glaciers and the fragility of the mountain environment," Ang Tsering Sherpa said.

Since it was first climbed in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the 8,848-metre (29,028-foot) mountain has been conquered more than 3,000 times.

Last year 557 people -- 254 via Nepal and 303 via Tibet -- reached the highest point on earth, which was a record.

The numbers are expected to be lower this year because of a climbing ban Nepal imposed up to May 11 to allow a protest-free path for the Chinese Olympic torch, which was carried up the northern approach to the mountain from Tibet.