Nepalese oldest to reach Everest summit

NEPAL: A Nepalese climber has become the oldest person to summit the world's highest mountain, breaking the previous record held by a Japanese man, officials said.

"Seventy-seven-year-old Nepalese Min Bahadur Sherchan reached the top of Everest on Sunday morning," Ramesh Khatri Chhetri, an official at the mountainnering department of Nepal's Tourism Ministry told AFP. "Sherchan is in good health and is slowly descending from the summit" he said.

The previous record was held by a retired Japanese school teacher Katsusuke Yanagisawa, 71, who conquered Everest last year.

Already various records have been set this spring season as 32 expedition teams push for the summit.

The official said that around 220 climbers including 87 foreigners had topped the summit by Sunday morning. Last week, 48-year-old Appa Sherpa broke his own world record by getting to the summit of Mount Everest for the 18th time. The same day, at least 86 climbers successfully made it to the top, which was another record. AFP