KATHMANDU, June 24: The wait is almost over. Everest climber Min Bahadur Sherchan, 78, who was shocked in February this year to learn that the Guinness Book had recognized a Japanese climber instead of him as the oldest man to climb Mt Everest, will soon make it to the Guinness Book, an official at the Tourism Ministry said.Sherchan climbed the world´s tallest peak on May 25 last year just 25 days before his 77th birthday. Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura, whom the Guinness Book recognized in February as the oldest climber to climb the 8,848-meter peak, made it to the top the same season at the age of 75. [break]
"The Guinness Book is in the final stages of recognizing Sherchan´s achievement," Surendra Sapkota, under-secretary of the ministry´s Mountaineering Division, told myrepublica.com.
"They have admitted that technical lapses led to the recognition going to Miura instead of Sherchan," Sapkota said Tuesday.
The mistake occurred because Sherchan was unaware of the proper procedure to get his name into the records book.
Sherchan told myrepublica.com on Tuesday that during his visit to London over a month ago, he was briefed by officials at the Guinness Book about the official procedure.
"I didn´t know that one has to personally claim a record, fill up a host of necessary documents and then furnish documentary evidence to support the claim," said Sherchan, who is hard of hearing.
The necessary formalities will be completed by the end of this week. "In my correspondence with them, officials at the Guinness Book have said the mistake will certainly be rectified after the formalities are complete," he added.
Unaware of the formalities, Sherchan last year couriered to the Guinness Book copies of the certificate of his achievement provided by the government, and an appreciation letter given him by President Ram Baran Yadav.
"After I was told that the courier had reached the destination, I didn´t inquire on the matter as I thought the Guinness Book would do the needful. But after coming to know in February that the recognition had gone to Miura, I visited London and took the initiative to fulfill necessary formalities," he said.
Sherchan was born on June 20, 1931, in Bhurung Tatopani of Myagdi district.
Sherchan beat the record set by another Japanese climber Katsusuke Yanagisawa, who climbed the mountain in 2007 at the age of 71. Before him, Miura had set the record in 2003 by climbing the mountain at the age of 70.
bikash@myrepublica.com
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