DPA
Kathmandu
A former Nepalese Gurkha soldier set off yesterday for Mount Everest in a renewed attempt to be the oldest person to summit the world’s highest mountain, authorities said.
Min Bahadur Sherchan, 83, left from Kathmandu on the country’s national day to attempt to reclaim his previous record, broken in 2013 by Japanese citizen Yuichiro Miura, then aged 80, according to the Nepal Tourism Board.
Sherchan tried to reclaim his title later that season, but was forced to abandon the attempt due to breathing problems and bad weather.
“I want to make an attempt again, to prove to the world the courage of the Nepalese Gurkha soldiers,” Sherchan, an ex-serviceman of the British Gurkha Army, said.
Sherchan’s attempt was being supported by the Non-Resident Nepalese Association in Britain.
A number of other climbers were attempting records on Everest this season.
Nepali HIV patient Gopal Shrestha is attempting to be the first person with the virus to scale the mountain.
Another Nepali, Leela Bahadur Basnet, is to try and set a new record by completing the trip from the capital to the top of Everest and back again within 10 days.
Climbers usually spend several weeks acclimatising at the Base Camp before they begin the climb to the top, whose altitude is 8,840m.
