(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-15 16:58

KATHMANDU - In his bid to create a new record, 77-year-old Min Bahadur Sherchan announced that he would scale the world's highest peak Mt. Qomolangma to be the oldest man to do so, The Himalayan Times reported on Tuesday.

According to the daily, a press release issued by Senior Citizen Mt. Everest (Qomolangma) Expedition (SECEE), Nepal 2008, on Monday stated Sherchan will begin his mission in spring (May 10 to 29), 2008.

"There is no doubt that with Sherchan's ardent desire and determination, our nation will hold a world record," the release stated.

Sherchan has a record of walking a distance of 1,028 km in 20 days in Nepali mountain area. He also walked for 202 km in four days and successfully climbed Mt. Naya-khanga peak (5,844 meters) in 2006.

Quoting Ram Jindaji Gurung, coordinator of the SECEE, the release stated, "The SECEE aims to assist Sherchan to scale the highest peak and create a new mountaineering record."

World record holder Pemba Dorje Sherpa is going to escort Sherchan as the team leader, while Mt. Qomolangma summiteer Krishna Tamang will be another team member, the statement added.

A Japanese teacher has become the oldest person to top Mt. Qomolangma after he scaled it on May 22 in 2007.

The 71-year-old Japanese man Katsusuke Yanagisawa was 71 years 2 months and 2 days old when he reached the summit, becoming the oldest Mt.Qomolangma climber in the world so far.