Min Bahadur Sherchan, who once held the title as the oldest person to climb the mountain, died at base camp, officials said.<\/b>
\nKATHMANDU, Nepal \u2014 An octogenarian Nepalese mountaineer who was on a mission to reclaim his title as the oldest climber on Mount Everest died on Saturday afternoon at base camp, government officials said.
The climber, Min Bahadur Sherchan, 85, died at 5: 14 p.m., said Dinesh Bhattarai, the director general of the Nepal Department of Tourism.
The cause of Mr. Sherchan\u2019s death was not immediately clear, but Gyanendra Shrestha, a government mountaineering official at the Everest base camp, said it might have been a heart attack.
Tilak Ram Pandey, a government liaison officer for Mr. Sherchan\u2019s team who was near the base camp, said Mr. Sherchan\u2019s body would be taken to Kathmandu for an autopsy on Sunday.
Mr. Sherchan\u2019s climbing mission was to \u201cspread world peace and preserve mankind, \u201d according to this team\u2019s GoFundMe pag e. His death came nearly a week after the renowned Swiss mountain climber Ueli Steck, nicknamed \u201cthe Swiss Machine\u201d for his rapid ascents of some of the world\u2019s most imposing peaks, died in an accident at a camp near Everest.
Mr. Steck, 40, had been trying to climb the 25,791-foot Himalayan peak Nuptse in preparation for an ambitious ascent of Everest, Mr. Bhattarai said. Mr. Steck\u2019s body was cremated in the monastery at Tengboche on Thursday morning, according to the Nepali tradition.
Mr. Sherchan went back to Everest to try to regain the title he claimed at age 76, in 2008. He lost the record five years later, when the Japanese mountaineer Yuichiro Miura summited the 29,029-foot peak at the age of 80.
\u201cSince his record was broken, he wanted to regain it, \u201d said Ang Tshering Sherpa, the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
Mr. Sherpa said Mr. Sherchan used to exercise every day and was maintaining his strength. \u201cHe used to walk for 14 to 15 kilometers every day, \u201d he said. \u201cHe was physically well, but he was challenged by his age.\u201d
Mr. Sherpa added: \u201cHe is a person with a strong will. He always wanted to make Nepal proud. We are very sad because of his death.\u201d
Mr. Sherchan was born on June 20,1931, in the tiny remote village of Bhurung Tatopani in West Nepal. He was a British Gurkha soldier at one point, and used to live in the United Kingdom.
In 2013, Mr. Sherchan put off plans to ascend Everest because of a lack of finances. He tried to climb Everest again in 2014, but that trek was canceled after an avalanche killed 16 sherpas. He made another attempt in 2015, but an earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people, including 18 in an avalanche that hit the mountain\u2019s base camp.
A total of 371 climbers from 40 expedition teams have permits to climb Everest for this year from Nepal\u2019s side. On Saturday, climbers were waiting for favorable weather to summit the mountain.
\u201cWeather is not good at the moment; there is a lot of wind, \u201d Mr. Shrestha said by phone from the base camp. \u201cSherpas are trying to rope the way above 8,000 meters, but because of the bad weather, they haven\u2019 t been able to do so in the last two to three days. They\u2019 ll do it once the weather gets better.\u201d
More than 4,870 climbers have reached the summit from Nepal\u2019s side so far.<\/p>\n

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