Japanese 80-year-old claims Everest record
Baku, May 23 (AZERTAC). An 80-year old Japanese mountaineer has reached the summit of Mount Everest, making him the oldest man to scale the world`s highest peak.
Yuichiro Miura, who climbed Everest when he was 70 and then again at 75, reached the peak early on Thursday morning, his support team said.
He replaces Nepal`s Min Bahadur Sherchan, who was 76 when he conquered Everest in 2008, as the record holder.
But Mr Sherchan, now 81, is set to tackle the mountain again next week.
Mr Miura began his final charge for the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) peak around 02:00 on Thursday, Japanese media reported, and arrived at the summit some seven hours later.
Miura and his son Gota called them from the summit, prompting his daughter Emili to smile broadly and clap her hands in footage on public broadcaster NHK.
The climbers planned to stick around the summit for about half an hour, take photos and then start to descend, his office said.
A Nepalese mountaineering official also confirmed to the Associated Press news agency that Mr Miura had made it to the summit.
Mr Miura made the climb with three other Japanese climbers, including his son, and six Nepali Sherpas, Reuters news agency reported.
An extreme skier who once held a world speed-skiing record, Mr Miura broke his pelvis and left thigh in 2009 and has also had a number of operations on his heart.
Ahead of his climb, he said scaling Everest was about challenging his limits and honoring “the great Mother Nature”.
It wasn`t until Miura was 70, however, that he first climbed all the way to the summit of Everest. When he summited again at 75, he claimed to be the only man to accomplish the feat twice in his 70s. After that, he said he was determined to climb again at age 80.
The previous oldest was Nepal`s Min Bahadur Sherchan, who accomplished the feat at age 76 in 2008, just a day before Miura reached the top at age 75.
Sherchan, now 81, was preparing to scale the peak next week despite digestive problems he suffered several days ago. On Wednesday, Sherchan said by telephone from the base camp that he was in good health and “ready to take up the challenge.”
Sherchan`s team is also facing financial difficulties. It hasn`t received the financial help that the Nepal government announced it would provide them. Purna Chandra Bhattarai, chief of Nepal`s mountaineering department, said the aid proposal was still under consideration.
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