He left his home in Draper in early April for Nepal, where he is preparing for his climb as part of the Eco-Everest Expedition.

His motivation for attempting to break his own record is not what you'd expect.

Apa cares little about bragging rights. Rather, he said responsibility drives him.

"The record is not the reason. A record can be broken anytime," Apa said in an interview in Salt Lake City before leaving for Katmandu. Instead, he sees the attention his participation in the Eco-Everest effort will draw as an opportunity to talk about the issue of global warming and the threat it poses to the people of the Himalayan highlands. The record, he says, "is good, but not so important."

Two other climbers, both Sherpas, have 15 summits of Everest.

Apa made it to the top of Everest for a record 17th time last May as part of the SuperSherpas Expedition, organized to draw attention to the need for better educational opportunities for Nepali children. Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, his partner last year and also now a Utah resident, will not join Apa this spring.

Apa, who has been spending time in his home village of Thame before making his way to base camp, said he had not planned to make another attempt to summit the world's tallest peak until he heard about the Eco-Everest Expedition.

Eco-Everest Expedition leader Dawa Steven summitted Everest last year. On his way down he was concerned about the condition of the Khumbu Icefall above base camp.

"Everything had turned to slush. The ice was crumbling as I walked. People were running to get off. On that same day the entire ice field collapsed," Dawa Steven, 23, said. "I wanted to know what was going on."

As he researched, the young Sherpa who graduated with honors from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland and speaks five languages, realized he had to tell the Nepali people and the world what was going on in the Himalayas.

Eco-Everest Expedition is the result.

The expedition's mission is to study the effects of global warming on the Himalayan glaciers and to document and educate people of the resulting dangers.

Apa witnessed the danger firsthand in 1985 when the Dig Tsho glacier lake near his home village of Thame collapsed and released a huge wall of water, wiping out homes and taking lives.

Other glacier lakes - there are an estimated 9,000 of them in the Himalayas - could also collapse at any time. This poses a threat not only to the people of the highlands, but also to the important tourism industry of Nepal.

Most visitors to the country take part in trekking adventures in the very areas at risk.

The melting of the glaciers now means too much water, but the long-term concern is a lack of water for the people who depend on the glaciers for daily life.

"It is important that people know what is happening," Apa said. "First the villagers who live in the dangerous places. I want to tell them not to live by the rivers. The people of the world should know too, because maybe they can do something to help."

brettp@sltrib.com

* Read more about Apa Sherpa and what he's been up to in Utah in the past year in Thursday's Outdoors section.

Apa Sherpa

At 48, Apa Sherpa owns the world record for summits of Mount Everest, at 17. The man who now calls Utah home with his wife and three children has returned to his native Nepal in an effort to make an 18th trip to the highest point on Earth.

The Salt Lake Tribune will provide updated information online on the progress of Apa Sherpa's summit attempt as part of the Eco-Everest Expedition at www.sltrib.com. The Web site for last year's SuperSherpas expedition successfully completed by Apa Sherpa and Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa is at http://sherpas.sltrib.com.