KATMANDU, Nepal — A 66-year-old Italian man scaled Mount Everest today, becoming the oldest person to climb the world's highest mountain, according to the China Tibet Mountaineering Association.
Mario Curnis, whose hometown was not known, reached the 29,035-foot summit Friday morning with another Italian climber, Simone Morro, and Nepali Sherpa guide Ang Mingma. It was Mingma's third time on the summit.
They reached the peak from the northern side of the mountain in Tibet, and details reaching Katmandu were sketchy.
Curnis' feat breaks the record set by Japanese climber Tomiyasu Ishikawa, of Nagoya, who scaled the peak last week at the age of 65 years and five months.
Last week, another Japanese climber, Tamae Watanabe, became the oldest woman to scale the peak, at age 63.
According to Ang Tshering, the agent in Katmandu for the China Tibet Mountaineering Association, the three climbers in Curnis' began their ascent on Thursday night from the last camp at 27,225 feet.
Mountaineers usually climb the last leg at night so they can reach the summit early in the morning. Weather conditions deteriorate in the afternoon, which would make the descent more difficult.
Quoting a message from the mountain, Tshering said the climbers had safely returned to Camp 3 at 24,930 feet and were in good health.