Last week, the big news that an 80-year-old Japanese Yuichiro Miura reached the top of Everest in the morning on May 23, 2013 and became the oldest man to summit Everest shocked the world. But it is not the end of the story as a race to be oldest Everest climber between two Octogenarians is on stage.
Who will be the oldest Everest climber? The left one (Min Bahadur Sherchan) or the right one (Yuichiro Miura)?
81-year old Min Bahadur Sherchan from Nepal arrived at the base of Everest on May 23, and is planning to climb the Mt. Everest on May 29 if the weather permits. If he succeeds, he will become the oldest man atop Mt. Everest.
Actually, it is not the first race between the two men for the oldest man to summit Everest. Five years ago, both the two men conquered the world’s highest peak in their 70s.
In 2008, 75-year-old Japanese extreme skier Yuichiro Miura climbed Mount Everest, but he missed becoming the oldest man to reach the summit because 76-year old Min Bahadur Sherchan reached the summit of the Everest just one day before Yuichiro Miura and became the oldest man atop Everest.
After five years, Yuichiro Miura conquered the world’s highest mount again at the age of 80, took the place of Min Bahadur Sherchan and became the present holder of the oldest Everest climber. Unfortunately for Yuichiro Miura, the 81-year-old Nepalese man who nabbed the record just before he could in 2008 is fast on his heels.
On Mr. Miura's website, he explained his attempt to scale Everest at such an advanced age: "It is to challenge (my) own ultimate limit. It is to honor the great Mother Nature."
He said a successful climb would raise the bar for what is possible.
"And if the limit of age 80 is at the summit of Mt. Everest, the highest place on earth, one can never be happier," he said.
Yes, Miura made it to the top and captured the record. Would it only last a few days if Sherchan is able to follow him.
Miura's daughter, Emili Miura, said he "doesn't really care" about the rivalry. "He's doing it for his own challenge," she said.
Sherchan, a former Gurkha soldier in the British army, first began mountaineering in 1960 when he climbed Mount Dhaulagiri, the 8,167-meter (26,790-foot) high peak in Nepal, according to his grandson, Manoj Guachan. Always an adventurer, and unbowed by age, he walked the length of Nepal in 2003.
Sherchan and his team said last Wednesday that they were prepared for their new climb, despite digestive problems he suffered several days ago.
"Our team leader has just arrived back at base camp and we are holding a team meeting on when exactly I will head up to the summit," Sherchan, who uses a hearing aid, said by telephone from the base camp. "I am fine and in good health. I am ready to take up the challenge. Our plan is to reach the summit within one week."
For untrained tourists, it is dangerous to climb the Everest, making a Tibet Everest Base Camp tour can be a wonderful experience.
Recommended tours to Everest:
.jpg "Tibetan Local Travel Agency")
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