KATHMANDU, May 26 (Reuters) - A renowned U.S. mountain guide has achieved the rare Mount Everest region "triple crown" of climbing the Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse peaks in one season, a hiking firm said on Friday, as the season's death toll on the world's highest mountain hit 12.
Madison, who owns the company Madison Mountaineering based in Seattle, climbed the smaller but technically difficult Nuptse peak, at 7,855 metres (25,770 feet), on May 8.
British climber Kenton Cool, who climbed the triple crown in 2013, said Garrett was an "unflappable expedition leader" who quietly goes about his job.
Cool, 49, last week set a new record of 17 summits of Everest, the world's highest peak, by a foreign climber.
A Nepali, Kami Rita Sherpa, this week climbed Everest for a 28th time, the most by any mountaineer.