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A 73-year-old Japanese mountaineer, who became the oldest woman to scale Mt. Everest (also called Qomolangma) a decade ago, is attempting to smash her own record.
According to Tuesday's The Himalayan Times daily, Tamae Watanabe made history when she reached the world's tallest peak on May 16, 2002, taking the title of world's oldest female Mt. Everest summiteer.
"She is an active mountaineer, who is physically and mentally fit enough to climb Everest," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, of the Kathmandu-based Asian Trekking mountaineering agency. She will launch her ascent from China's Tibetan side of the mountain, according to the report.
Watanabe, who set off from Nepali capital Kathmandu last week accompanied with Japanese mountaineer and photographer Noriyuki Muraguchi, plans to reach the top of the 8,848-meter peak between May 10 and 12, said Sherpa of the mountaineering agency.
Min Bahadur Sherchan, from Nepal, holds the record for being the oldest man to conquer the mountain.
He reached the summit in 2008 at the age of 76 years and 340 days.
Around 3,000 people have climbed the world's tallest peak since it was first conquered by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.
Every year, hundreds of people set out in April to attempt the climb. |
