Everest record old news for Japanese climber, 75

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

TOKYO (AFP) — A 75-year-old Japanese climber reached the top of Mount Everest on Monday, a day too late to reclaim his record as the summit's oldest conqueror.

Elderly mountaineer Yuichiro Miura, who has undergone two bouts of heart surgery, congratulated Nepal's Min Bahadur Sherchan, 76, who scaled the world's highest peak on Sunday.

"Congratulations to the 76-year-old for his successful ascent!" Miura said in a statement issued Sunday from the C5 camp near the top of Everest.

"As a fellow septuagenarian, I have also finally reached C5 after a challenging ascent. I will now try my best to reach the same summit, hopefully tomorrow," he said.

His supporters later said Miura reached the 8,848-metre (29,028-feet) summit at 0148 GMT. They said he met...