Octogenarians take aim at summit of Mt. Everest

KATHMANDU, Nepal - An 80-year-old Japanese extreme skier who climbed Mount Everest five years ago, but just missed becoming the oldest man to reach the summit, is back on the mountain to make another attempt at the title.

Unfortunately for Yuichiro Miura, the 81-year-old Nepalese man who nabbed the record just before he could in 2008 is fast on his heels.

Miura on Wednesday was already in the “death zone,” the steep, icy, oxygen-deficient area close to the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) summit. His rival, Min Bahadur Sherchan, from Nepal, was at the base camp preparing for his own attempt on the summit next week.

On his expedition’s Web site, Miura explained his attempt to scale Everest at such an advanced age: “It is to challenge [my] own ultimate limit. It is to honor the great Mother Nature.”

He said a successful climb would raise the bar for what is possible.