By DPA,
Kathmandu : A 75-year-old Nepalese climber has become the oldest person to reach the summit of Mt Everest, officials said Sunday.
Min Bahadur Sherchan, reached the summit of the 8,848 metre high Mount Everest Sunday morning, Ramesh Chettri an officer at the Ministry of Tourism said.
Sherchan’s successful summit ascent to the world’s highest peak broke the previous record held by a Japanese climber.
Officials said Sherchan was in good health and was descending to the base camp.
Speaking in Kathmandu in January this year to announce his intention, Sherchan said he wanted to encourage senior citizens as well as be an inspiration to the youth of the country.
“Many Nepalese have established records on Mount Everest,” Sherchan said told journalists. “The record for the oldest climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest should also belong to a Nepali.”
A retired Japanese school teacher Katsusuke Yanagisawa was 71 years old when he reached the summit in 2007.
Several records have been set on Everest this year as climbers rush to reach the summit before the season comes to a close at the end of May.
Last week, veteran climber and high altitude guide Appa Sherpa broke his own record when he reached the summit for the 18th time.
The Nepalese government confirmed over 210 climbers, including 88 foreigners, reached the summit of Mt. Everest this year.
More than 1,400 climbers have reached the summit since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa became the first to attain the feat May 29, 1953.
More than 200 others have died trying to scale the summit.