Malaysian oldest climber reaches Lobuche

James Lee Chong Meng, the oldest Malaysian who attempted to capture the peak of Mount Everest, arrived at Lobuche today.

The 69-year-old climber said he and his team arrived at Lobuche from the Everest Base Camp (EBC) at about 7pm today (Nepal local time).

"Today, we attended a ''puja'' (prayer session) in EBC at 1 pm and will start training in Lobuche East tomorrow.

Lobuche is a small settlement near Mount Everest in the Khumbu region of Nepal and is one of the last overnight stops with lodging on the "trail to base camp", a hike that climbers make on their way to Everest Base Camp (South) when attempting an ascend of Everest via the standard southeast route.

"It is expected to be five hours tracking from Lobuche to Lobuche High Camp, the point where I will take a rest," he said in an audio recording sent to Bernama, a media partner of the country''s oldest climber who is on a mission to reach the world''s highest peak.

Lee said they expect to reach the summit of Lobuche East, at an altitude of 6,119 metres above sea level, on Tuesday night. The climber and his team arrived in Kathmandu on April 1.

The five other climbers are Eugene Kwan Jyh Sin, 47, Chong Nyuk Kooi, 49, Teng Hee Weng, 48, Berdych Tan Teck Chai and Jack Oh Jin Heng, both 32.

They will escort Lee to the Base Camp of Mount Everest, before Lee continues his climb to the top of the summit, in an expedition organised by the Lions Club of Port Dickson Pantai.

During the ascend, Lee will be assisted by two sherpas, Ngaa Tenji and Pasang Sherpa.

In May last year, Lee was forced to cancel the final stage of his climb to the peak of Mount Everest when he reached Camp III at an altitude of 7,200m due to bad weather.

Mount Everest is 8,848m high. The Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) is the media partner for the expedition. - BERNAMA