Nepal octogenarian mountaineer dies at Everest base camp

Sherchan, 86, was attempting to scale the mountain to try to claim the title of the oldest man to climb the world’s tallest peak.

Nepal’s octogenarian mountaineer Min Bahadur Sherchan died at Everest Base Camp on Saturday, the second casualty this spring.

Min Bahadur Sherchan had left for the Everest base camp last Sunday, leading a seven members team. (Reuters File)

According to Dinesh Bhattarai, director general of the Nepal tourism department, the 86-year-old died at 5.14 pm of a suspected heart attack.

Sherchan, 86, was attempting to scale the mountain to try to claim the title of the oldest man to climb the world’s tallest peak. He had left for the Everest base camp last Sunday, leading a seven-member team.

He had tried to climb Everest in 2015, but returned from base camp after an avalanche hit the mountain.

Sherchan had first successfully climbed the mountain in May 2008 at the age of 76, becoming the then oldest man to assent to the top. Guinness World Records recognised his feat in November 2009, replacing previous record holder Japanese Yuichiro Miura.

In 2013, Miura snatched the record back from Sherchan by stepping on the summit at the age of 80.

Swiss climber Ueli Steck — one of the most feted mountaineers of his generation — became the first fatality of this year’s spring season on Everest when he fell from a ridge during an acclimatisation climb last week.