According to this story, 82-year old Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya is on his way to Everest Base Camp this week, where he hopes to become the oldest person to ever climb that mountain. The Nepalese man began his trek from Lukla on Tuesday and is expected to arrive in BC next week.
Upadhyaya is the former foreign minister for Nepal, and he says that he wants to climb the mountain to prove that older people can still be healthy and strong enough to achieve such a feat. If successful, he'll break the record currently held by his countryman Min Bahadur Sherchan, who summitted Everest back in 2008 at the age of 76.
As the world's tallest mountain, standing 8848 meters (29,029 ft) in height, Everest will pose quote a challenge for the octogenarian. He hopes to complete the climb within 45 days, which would put him on course to summit in early June, right before the monsoon moves in for the season. If he does summit, it'll be an impressive feat not just because of his age. According to this story, he has no experience in climbing mountains.
Good luck! You're going to need it!
