Nepal Now / Stories / Archive 2016
Yuichiro Miura: Next Everest expedition at 90
By Supriya Rai ·
Published· Stories
Yuichiro Miura, the oldest person to summit Mount Everest, is training to ski down the sixth highest peak in the world, Cho Oyu, when he turns 85. He also plans to attempt a fourth summit of Everest when he turns 90.
“All the time, I think of Everest. I can’t stop. It’s the mountain I love the most, the mountain I pay the most respect to,” he said to South China Morning Post.
Miura first gained worldwide fame in 1970, by becoming the first person to ski down Mount Everest in less than two and a half minutes. His feat was later turned into an Oscar winning documentary “The Man who skied down Everest”. However, his achievement was marred by the death of six Sherpas in his group, a tragedy that Miura did not take lightly.
In 2003, Miura returned to Everest for the first time in 33 years and set a record by being the oldest person to reach the summit. When this record was broken, he returned in 2008 aged 75, to reclaim the title. His last Everest summit was in 2013 at the ripe age of 80, a record yet unbroken.
Despite all these achievements, the Japanese alpinist is not quite done with Everest as evidenced by his desire to return to Nepal in 2023.
“I’m thinking of the next Everest expedition – if I’m still alive by then.”
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