Man Dies Attempting to Become Oldest to Climb Everest

Min Bahadur Sherchan was 85
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted May 6, 2017 12:05 PM CDT
Man Dies Attempting to Become Oldest to Climb Everest
Min Bahadur Sherchan, 85, died Saturday while attempting to become the oldest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest.   (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha, File)

An 85-year-old Nepalese man attempting to reclaim the record for oldest person ever to summit Mount Everest, died Saturday at base camp, the BBC reports. Min Bahadur Sherchan's guide says he was in good shape but hadn't spent time at high altitude in two years. According to the Kathmandu Post, doctors believe Sherchan died of a heart attack. An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday, the New York Times reports. Sherchan was attempting to take the record back from rival octogenarian climber Yuichiro Miura, who reached the top of Everest in 2013 at the age of 80. The president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association says Sherchan was a man of "strong will" who "always wanted to make Nepal proud." His was the second death on Everest this spring. (More Min Bahadur Sherchan stories.)

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