80 year old becomes oldest to scale Mount Everest

Yuichiro Miura
Yuichiro Miura

 

An 80-year-old Japanese climber who has had four heart surgeries has become the oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Yuichiro Miura and his party arrived at the summit of the world’s highest mountain around 9.00am (local time) on Thursday.

“I feel like the happiest person in the world. How could I have come so far at the world’s oldest age of 80?” Miura said by satellite phone from the summit.

“I have never felt like this in my life. But I’ve never been more exhausted than this.

“I can see the scenery of the Himalayas below me. I really thank every one of you for your support.”

It was his third conquest of the 8,848-metre peak after previously reaching the summit when he was 70 and 75.

Miura’s latest feat means he recaptures the same record he previously held.

His 2003 record was broken in 2007. He then conquered Everest for the second time aged 75 in May 2008, but that was one day after Nepal’s Min Bahadur Sherchan made it to the top at the age of 76.

Until Thursday morning, the Nepalese man had been the world record holder, according to Guinness World Records.

Now 81, Miura plans to make his own attempt at scaling the summit and taking back his record next week.

A noted veteran adventurer, Miura came to worldwide attention in 1970 when he became the first person to ski down Everest.

Miura has since skied down the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, following the tradition of his late father Keizo, who skied down Europe’s Mont Blanc at the age of 99.

He trained for the Everest climb by hiking in Tokyo with weighted packs and working out on a treadmill in a special low-oxygen room in his home.

More than 3,000 people have successfully scaled Everest, but the mountain claims lives regularly, with even the best climbers falling victim to its fickle weather.

Leave a Reply