Seventy-six-year-old Nepali, Min Bahadur Sherchan, arrives back in
Kathmandu after setting a new record for the oldest climber to reach the
summit of Mt. Everest. 

 KATHMANDU, NEPAL (MAY 31, 2008) REUTERS -
 A 76-year-old Nepali man has become the oldest person to climb to
the top of Mount Everest, beating a record set last year by a Japanese man.

   Min Bahadur Sherchan reached the summit on May 25 along with four other
Nepali climbers and received a hero's welcome on Saturday (May 31) when he
returned to Kathmandu. 
   A police band played festive songs and Sherchan's relatives and
supporters greeted him with offerings of white silk scarves. 
  "I didn't feel anything new. I was very much confident beforehand,
so that's why I don't feel any different after having achieved it," said
Sherchan of his achievement.
   Sherchan breaks the record set last year by Katsusuke Yanagisawa, who
was 71 at the time of his ascent. 
   He said that age had little to do with reaching the summit and his will
power had enabled to reach the top of the world's highest peak.
   "Courage just depends on will power, there is no value in just
imaging reaching the summit," said the retired army officer from western
Nepal. 
    More than 3,000 people have climbed to the summit since it was first
scaled by New Zealander Edmund Hillary, who died in January, and Nepal's
Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953.