KATMANDU, Nepal — A record 75 climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest in a single day from the Nepal side of the world's highest mountain, a Nepalese official said Friday.

The mountaineering milestone was confirmed as news came that a Swiss climber had died on his way down from the summit.

Nepalese Tourism Ministry official Ramesh Chetri said Thursday's official tally surpassed the previous record of 63 summits from the southern approach in one day, set May 16, 2002. The number could be even higher as other reports are confirmed, he said Friday.

Favorable weather conditions had allowed more than 100 climbers to scale the 29,035-foot peak this week.

On Friday, two more groups of climbers — six foreigners and 10 Sherpa guides — were able to reach the summit at dawn. But later in the morning, weather conditions worsened and other climbers stopped trying to make the summit, instead staying in their tents at camps set up along the route, Chetri said.

Also Thursday, a veteran Sherpa guide scaled Mount Everest for a record 18th time. Apa Sherpa reached the summit along with several of his team members, said Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

Separately, expedition organizers said a Swiss climber was killed on Everest on his way down from the summit on Wednesday.

Details were sketchy, but Iceland Trekking in Katmandu notified the ministry that Uwe Miche Johannes Goltz, 44, of Avegno, Switzerland, had died near the summit.

At least 210 climbers have died trying to scale Everest since it was first conquered in 1953. Only about 3,800 have managed to reach the summit since New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay first set foot on the peak.

Mountaineers were able to resume Everest expeditions on May 9 after the government lifted a temporary ban.

Nepal ordered a halt to climbing in early May to prevent any protests against China's rule in Tibet during an ascent by Chinese climbers carrying the Olympic torch. The Chinese team summited on May 8 — from the northern Tibetan side of Everest — and Nepal lifted the ban a day later.

There was no reports of any Olympic protests on Everest. An American climber was expelled by authorities, however, after he was caught with a "free Tibet" banner in his backpack.

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