원정 개요

Sherchan wanted to break his own record as the oldest person to climb Everest, but he got started too late due to financial problems paying for the permit.


The Telegraph
By Anil Giri, Kathmandu and Dean Nelson in New Delhi 4:30PM BST 28 May 2013

Since last Thursday, 80-year-old Yuichiro Miura, the oldest man to summit Everest, had faced an anxious wait for news that his world record had been broken by his 81-year-old longtime rival Min Bahadur Sherchan.

But on Tuesday night he was breathing easily once again after the Gurkha pensioner was airlifted from Everest base camp to a hospital in Kathmandu suffering from chest problems.

His evacuation has brought an end to an epic octogenarian battle to prove age is no barrier to the ultimate physical endeavour and sounded a note of disappointment for the Nepal government. Officials had hoped he would regain his world record as the oldest man to climb Everest on Wednesday to mark the 60th anniversary of Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing's historic first ascent.

Mr Sherchan's rivalry with Yuichiro Miura began in 2008 when the Japanese alpinist set out to extend his then world record set in 2003 at the age of 70. He reached the summit again in May 2008 at the age of 75, only to find that Mr Sherchan, then 76, had beaten him to it the day before.

This season, both men were at base camp hoping to settle once and for all which was to be the oldest conqueror of Everest probably in their lifetime, and the Japanese climber was first to launch his bid. He reclaimed his world record on May 23 when he spoke to his wife and family from the peak by satellite phone and was told to "come home now."

His Nepali rival remained unmoved by the news and claimed his tough training regime in a pressure-controlled room to replicate the high altitude conditions of Everest had put him in peak condition. He had trained on a cross trainer and stuck to a special organic grain diet.

Officials said bureaucratic delays in granting permission and funding for his ascent may have sapped the strength he had built up and eventually brought his final ambition to an end. As he was forced to wait at the base camp, the prolonged exposure to extreme cold weather eventually caused breathing problems and chest pains they said.

"Sherchan had complained of some problem in his chest so I advised my friends to bring back him to Kathmandu," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, chairman of the company supporting his expedition, Asian Trekking.

A Nepal tourism ministry official confirmed his ascent "was delayed for permission to him by the government and releasing the money."

"He had to spend so many days in Everest [base] camp and that made him unwell. Now [for him] it is very much impossible to climb Everest this season," he said.