Mountaineer Elanghovan "treks" his way into record book as oldest Malaysian to scale Everest

KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 (Bernama) -- Avid mountaineer N. Elanghovan has carved his name in the Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR) as the 'Oldest Malaysian to Scale Mount Everest' at the age of 64. 

MBOR Senior Record Consultant Edwin Yeoh presented the certificate of accomplishment to him in a ceremony held at the MBOR office here, today

The Tenaga Nasional Berhad retiree reached the summit of the majestic Everest, standing at 8,849 metres high, at 9.17 am Nepal time (11.32 am Malaysian time) on May 12.

Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Elanghovan said age was not a barrier for him to achieve his lifetime dream. 

 "Malaysians, especially the young ones must aim to take some challenges in life, if no challenge, life won't be meaningful. Must have some passion, whether in studies, sports or anything, follow that passion...It can be mountain climbing.

"In Malaysia itself, we have a lot of hiking spots to go, while overseas there is alpine mountaineering, which needs technical equipment. I advise everyone to have an active lifestyle for their own health and well-being," Elanghovan, fondly known as Elango, said.

The previous record holder in that category was the late Idris Said of Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM). 

Idris was a member of the Persatuan Kembara Negara (PKN) Everest expedition in 2007 and achieved the feat at the age of 52. He died on Jan 1, 2017.

Asked about the budget to scale the world's highest peak,    Elango, who hails from Cameron Highlands and now resides in Port Dickson, said the cost reached over RM200,000 with a quarter of it contributed by friends and family members, while he also had to sell his house in Shah Alam to raise funds. 

"The cost to climb Everest is not cheap, we have pay US$40,000 (about RM177,000) to a company in Nepal before leaving. Of the sum, US$11,000 is for the permit, while US$29,000 for expenses like food, logistics and sherpa guide, We have to stay at Everest Base Camp about two months for acclimatisation and technical training. 

"It does not include and additional US$9,000 for purchase of equipment and over RM50,000 for training since 2014," he added. 

On his next mission, Elango said he plans to complete the G7 – seven summits in seven continents – in his attempt to conquer all the highest peaks in the seven continents.

With Mt Everest in Asia and Mt Kilimanjaro in Africa (5,895 metres), which he scaled in August 2016, already in the bag, he intends to climb Mt Aconcagua (6,961 metres) in Argentina, South America; Mt Denali (6,194 metres) in Alaska, North America; Mt Elbrus (5,642 metres) in Russia, Europe; Mt Vinson Massif (4,892 metres) in Antarctica and Mt Kosciuszko (2,228 metres) in Australia.

-- BERNAMA