Nepal’s 86-year-old mountaineer Min Bahadur Sherchan, who was once the oldest climber to scale the Mount Everest, died on Saturday at its base camp, leaving his dream to re-conquer the world’s tallest peak unfulfilled.
Sherchan, a former British Gurkha who aimed at reclaiming the crown of oldest climber to ascend the 8,848—metre peak, died at 5:14 p.m. local time while climbing, said Gyanendra Shrestha, an official at the tourism ministry.
Doctors suspected heart attack as the cause of his death.
He had left Kathmandu on April 16 to scale the peak, the Himalayan Times reported, citing multiple sources at the Mount Everest base camp, which is more than 5,000 metres above sea level.
But the former soldier could not fulfil his dream to regain his lost title of being the oldest climber to scale the Everest.
Sherchan had scaled the Everest at the age of 76 in 2008 and recorded his name in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010 as the oldest climber.
Five years later, his record was broken by an 80-year-old Japanese national Yuichiro Miura.
Earlier, Sherchan had made an attempt to scale the Everest in 2015 but could not make it due to the avalanches triggered by the great earthquake.
“I want to be the oldest person to scale Everest again to be an inspiration for people around the world,” Sherchan had told reporters at his home last month prior to his expedition.
“I may be old in terms of age but I still have young courage. I will reach the peak of Everest come what may,” he had said.
He was climbing the Everest for the cause of the world peace and to protect Earth, besides winning back the record, his campaign coordinator Jit Bahadur Gharti Magar had said.
