Who Is Min Bahadur Sherchan? Everest Climber Dies In An Attempt To Become Oldest Man On Peak

A Nepali mountain climber who was attempting to become the oldest person to climb Mount Everest died at the Everest base camp Saturday evening. Min Bahadur Sherchan was 85 years old.

The cause of death was not known but local media reported mountaineering official Gyanendra Shrestha, who was at the base camp, saying the veteran climber passed away at 5:14 p.m. local time (7:14 a.m. EDT), possibly through cardiac arrest.

Sherchan, a former British Gurkha soldier, set the record for the oldest person to climb Mount Everest in May 2008, when he was 76 years old. His record, however, was beaten by Japan’s Yuichiro Miura, who climbed the world's tallest peak at the age of 80 in 2013.

Read: Famous Climber Ueli Steck, Nicknamed 'Swiss Machine,' Died In Accident Near Mt. Everest

The latest attempt was Sherchan’s bid to reclaim the record by climbing the Everest at 85.

Before he embarked upon his journey last month, Sherchan underwent months of training, and in an interview with the Associated Press, he said he did not suffer from any respiratory problems. His blood pressure was also reported to be normal.

In the same interview, Sherchan said he was looking to spread the message of peace to areas marred by conflict once he finished his journey to the top of the mountain.

Sherchan made an earlier attempt at reclaiming the record in 2015 but a devastating earthquake hit the country while he was on his way to the base camp. The natural calamity caused climbers to abandon their excursions at the time.

“I want to climb Everest to set a record so that it will inspire people to dream big. This will instill a sense of pride among old people like me,” Sherchan told Germany’s dpa international in March this year. “My climb will demonstrate that age doesn’t stop you from realizing your goal,” he added.

Sherchan was drawn towards mountaineering for the first time in 1960 when he was assigned by the Nepalese government to be a liaison officer for a team from Switzerland that was attempting to climb Mount Dhaulagiri.

He was reportedly inspired by famous Nepali Sherpas like Tenzing Norgay and Apa Sherpa to take on the treacherous terrain of the Everest. Norgay was the first person who reached the top of Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953, while Apa Sherpa held the record for having climbed the mountain the most number of times.

Sherchan was a grandfather of 17 and great-grandfather of six children. He went on to become an apple farmer and also constructed roads and dams for a while before he finally started running hotels in Kathmandu.

The news of his death comes less than a week after renowned Swiss climber Ueli Steck, also known as the “Swiss Machine” was killed while attempting to scale the Everest last Sunday.

The 40-year-old, known for his fast ascents, passed away in an accident as he was acclimatizing to climb the mountain through a new route, without oxygen.