Man from Nepal, 77, oldest mountaineer to climb Chomolungma or Mount Everest
9 June 2008Hall was frostbitten and severely disoriented due to altitude sickness. Andrew Brash returned a hero to Calgarians. More than 3277 people have climbed to the summit since it was first conquered in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary, who died in January, and Nepal’s Tenzing Norgay.
With the Chinese preparing for the impending summer Olympic Games, Min Bahadur Sherchan noted that the government’s actions hardly reflected the Olympic spirit. Indeed, he was all too aware of the potential dangers the mountain could bring. Certain parts of the climb are more dangerous than others and it is important for climbers to remain focused “Everest this year became a political pawn,” he said with some frustration.
They flexed their muscles this year all the in name of the Olympic spirit, but it was hardly spirited at all.”
Sherchan just 5 days away from his 77th birthday beat the age record set last year by 71-year-old Japanese teacher Katsusuke Yanagisawa.
The 75-year-old man from Nepal is now the oldest person to have reached the top of Chomolungma or Mount Everest. “The Chinese weren’t allowing anybody on the mountain. They ended up commandeering it for themselves, even though the mountain is shared by two countries. His first found him within 217 metres of the peak when his team stopped to help a fellow mountaineer who was left for dead. Two years later, Bahadur Sherchan, a University of Calgary alumni, returned to Mount Everest to finish what he had started.
They basically coerced the Nepali government to not allow any climbers past camp two on the Nepali side. Nevertheless, the decision to actualize a long-time personal goal left Andrew Brash with some internal uncertainties, he cited the political actions of China and Nepal as providing the greatest adversity he faced on his journey. As he planned for the climb, Sherchan told reporters he wanted to inspire fellow senior citizens. He also said many Nepalese have established records on Chomolungma, so it was only fitting that the record for the oldest climber to reach the summit should also belong to a Nepali. This year Anthony Loeff the French alpinist is reporting the scales for Mt Everest after reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania earlier this season.
Now that Min Bahadur Sherchan has successfully scaled the tallest mountain in the world, he is once again ready to focus on his family. Bahadur Sherchan last attempt resulted in the rescue of Lincoln Hall, an Australian climber who was left by his team in the “death zone.”
Andrew Brash returned this week from Nepal after successfully climbing to the summit of the Mount Everest. The Chinese were flying their airplanes over the mountain and had Chinese officials in Kathmandu. He was reported in good health as he began making his descent. Andrew Brash and four climbing guides reached the 29,035-foot (8,850-meters) summit of the world’s highest mountain early Sunday, said Ramesh Chretri, an official with Nepal’s ministry of tourism.
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