On top of the world at 77

A 77-year-old retired Nepali soldier has entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest man to have climbed Mount Everest, reports Utpal Parashar.

A 77-year-old retired Nepali soldier has entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest man to have climbed Mount Everest.

Min Bahadur Sherchan who climbed the world’s tallest peak in May last year at the age of 76 years beat the previous record of Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura, two years his junior.

According to reports, documentary lapses led Guinness to recognise Miura’s claim as Sherchan had failed to complete the formalities needed. The Japanese had scaled the peak two days after Sherchan.

The Nepali climber was shocked when he came to know in February this year about Miura’s claim to the record.

Enquiries revealed that the documents he had couriered to the Guinness office were not sufficient and hence Miura’s claim got recognised.

Sherchan had sent a copy of the recognition given by the Nepali government and a letter of appreciation by President Ram Baran Yadav.

But he went to Guinness’s London office this year and gave enough proof to stake his claim for the record.