May 6 (UPI) — A Nepalese man attempting to become the oldest person ever to scale Mt. Everest died Friday of undisclosed causes.
Min Bahadur Sherchan, 85, died while at Everest’s base camp, officials confirmed. Gyanendra Shrestha, a government mountaineering official at the base camp, said the cause of death may have been a heart attack.
Sherchan was previously the oldest person to climb Everest, when he did so at the age of 76 in 2008. He was later bested by Japanese mountaineer Yuichiro Miura, who was 80 when he summited the world’s tallest mountain in 2013.
Sherchan tried three times since losing his record to again climb Everest, but was put off once for lack of funds and twice because of deadly avalanches on the mountain that halted activity during the brief climbing season.
Prior to making his most recent attempt, Sherchan said he hoped to use the fame associated with twice holding such a record would help him spread a message of world peace in conflict-torn areas around the globe.
