(CNN) It took five attempts and four decades for Chinese climber Xia Boyu to step onto the roof of the world.
On his first Everest attempt in 1975, Xia got frostbite and had to have his feet -- and later his legs -- amputated.
Undeterred, Xia went back again in 2014, 2015 and 2016. On that last attempt a blizzard forced him to turn back less than 100 meters from the summit.
"It's been a dream of mine for almost 40 years," Xia told CNN. "In the past, it was thwarted by the weather, such as earthquakes and avalanches."
On 14 May the 69-year-old finally realized his dream, making him the first double amputee to summit Everest from the Nepal side.
Historical firsts on Everest
The journey to the summit of Mount Everest is a challenge that an increasing number of people have taken on since the summit was first reached in 1953.
From the first couple to get married on top of the world's highest mountain, to the
first person to paraglide from the summit, we take a look at Everest's fearless record breakers.
George Mallory and Edward Felix Norton took part in the first attempt to summit Everest. In 1922 they
got as far as 27,300 feet, on the northeast ridge of Everest, but failed to reach the summit. That same year, seven Sherpas were killed when they were caught in an avalanche.
Mallory returned to Everest in June 1924 with climbing partner Andrew Irvine. This is the last photo of the two before they
disappeared on the mountain. Mallory's body was found 75 years later, showing signs of a fatal fall.
Reinhold Messner holds the
record for the first solo ascent in 1980. He was also the first to make the climb without supplemental oxygen two years earlier.
Francys Distefano-Arsentiev was the
first American woman to reach Everest's summit without bottled oxygen in May 1998. However, she and her husband, Sergei Arsentiev, died after becoming separated while attempting to descend in the dark. A climbing party found her barely conscious, but there was nothing they could do to save her. Her husband's body was found years later. It is believed he fell while trying to save his wife.
American mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer
holds the record for being the first blind man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, accomplishing the feat in 2001. He has made it to the top of the highest mountains in all seven continents.
Mark Inglis from New Zealand became the first double-amputee to conquer the world's highest mountain in 2006. But his achievement was also
met with controversy. On the way to the summit, Inglis' team found British climber David Sharp near death in a cave 300 meters below the summit. They tried to help but Inglis said they could do little for Sharp and they carried on to the summit. Sharp died on the mountain.
Aged just 13, Jordan Romero braved Everest in May 2010, becoming the
youngest person to reach its summit.
Yuichiro Miura reached the summit of Everest at the age of 80, in May 2013, making him the
oldest person to achieve this feat.
Indian mountaineer Anshu Jamsenpa successfully ascended Mount Everest
twice in five days in 2017, making her the first woman to do so.
Kami Rita Sherpa, a Nepali mountaineer,
broke his own world record for the most Everest summits in May by reaching the world's highest peak for the 22nd time.
Nepalese climber Lhakpa Sherpa broke her own
world record for most successful climbs of Everest for a woman, after conquering the mountain for the ninth time in 2018.
Chinese double amputee climber Xia Boyu, who lost both of his legs during first attempt to climb Everest, finally reached the summit of the world's highest peak in May 2018. He became the first double amputee to summit from the Nepalese side, and the second double amputee to make it to the top.
"This time after 40 years, Mountain Everest accepted me, finally," he said.
Mark Inglis of New Zealand, who also lost both legs to frostbite, was the first double amputee to reach the summit in 2006 from the Tibet side.
Scaling Everest with prosthetics adds another level of difficulty, said Xia, because it is difficult to feel the ground beneath you.
"Whatever you are standing on, what kind of roads you walk on, whether it is flat or bumpy. They [prosthetics] do not give you any sensations. You have to learn to feel it day-to-day. To find the feeling."
Added to this, Xia said he had to utilize his body strength to maintain balance as the prosthetics cannot be adjusted to the angles of going uphill or downhill. "I have to have one-third more physical strength than normal people," he said.
Xia Boyu at Bhaktapur on the outskirts of Kathmandu, ahead of his attempt to climb the mountain in April 2018.
But Xia almost never made it to Everest this year.
In 2017 the Nepali government banned double amputees, blind, and solo climbers from attempting Everest in a bid to reduce accidents and climbing-related deaths.
But the Supreme Court overturned the decision, allowing people like Xia to obtain climbing permits.
"I have learnt from my journey to the top that you should advance bravely no matter what harsh conditions you face, never give up on your ambition," said Xia.
"This is the power of persistence, the reward of me never giving up."