AN 82-YEAR-OLD former Nepalese foreign minister has died on the slopes of Mount Everest while attempting to become the oldest person to climb the world’s highest mountain. Shailendra Kumar Upadhyay was descending from a camp on the lower slopes of the 8,850m peak when he collapsed yesterday.
The death – the first of this year’s climbing season – is likely to fuel charges that there is insufficient regulation of candidates attempting the ascent of the mountain.
Mr Upadhyay was climbing with a non-profit-making expedition organised by a local campaign group for the rights of the elderly, but in recent years many top climbers have claimed that expeditions are accepting unsuitable members, particularly if they are high-profile, sufficiently wealthy or both.
Mr Upadhyay was trying to break the record set by a Nepalese climber who scaled Everest at the age of 76. The former diplomat's climbing companions gave him water and oxygen but were unable to save him. It is believed he died of acute altitude sickness, which is difficult to treat and is a common cause of death among mountain climbers. – ( Guardianservice)