76-year-old man becomes the oldest person to climb Mount Everest

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A 76-year-old Nepalese man reached the summit of Mount Everest on Sunday to become the oldest person to climb the world's highest mountain, mountaineering officials said. Min Bahadur Sherchan reached the 8,850-meter summit early in the morning with his climbing guides, said Nepal's Tourism Ministry official Ramesh Chetri. Sherchan is just 25 days from his 77th birthday, Chetri said. He beat the record set last year by Japanese climber Katsusuke Yanagisawa, who scaled the peak at age 71. Sherchan was in good health and was descending from the summit, Chetri said. The former soldier has climbed smaller mountains before his Everest feat and has been an active sportsman, Chetri said. He said about a dozen climbers were reported to have scaled Everest on Sunday following one of the busiest weeks in the mountain's climbing season.