Pokhara, March 24

The oldest man to summit Mt Everest at 78 until 80-year-old Japanese mountaineer Yuchiro Miura broke his record, ex-Gurkha Min Bahadur Sherchan announced that he was all set to make another bid to ascend the highest mountain of the world, at the age of 89.

Sherchan’s technical adviser Shiva Sapkota said the former had made two such attempts back in 2013 and 2015. “Despite full preparation, the 2015 bid failed because of the 2015 earthquakes,” Sapkota said, expressing his confidence that the latest bid will be successful.

Speaking at a programme organised in his honour by the Thakali Sewa Samiti in Pokhara today, Sherchan said, “My sole objective from this ascent is to spread a message of peace to humanity and nature conservation,” he said, calling for the destruction of all weapons of mass destruction from the world.

On the occasion, former chairperson of Nepal Mountaineering Association Haridhwaj Tulachan praised Sherchan for the courage he has shown at his age.

Sherchan’s mountaineering campaign coordinator Jit Bahadur Gharti Magar said, “The ascent will probably happen in the first of Baisakh, if the weather is favourable. We have asked the Prime Minister’s Office for help, and also requested Nepali expats for the same,” he said.

Today itself, Pokhara chairman of Thakali Sewa Samiti, Bishwo Gauchan, provided Rs 50,000 for the campaign. Similarly, NMA former chair Tulachan also donated Rs 100,000.

Sherchan had started his mountaineering career by successfully climbing Mt Dhaulagiri in 1960. To hone his mountaineering skills further, he has been taking regular training in the Muktinath area of Mustang.