Lee flew to Kathmandu, Nepal, last Thursday and is expected to wrap up his mission in about 70 days.

The sherpas are Ngaa Tenji Sherpa, 33, and Ang Temba Sherpa, 44.

Ngaa said that this would be his first time accompanying a septuagenarian in a bid to conquer Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak.

“During my past experience, I have accompanied many climbers to Everest, aged between 30 to 60 years. But I did not expect there is an oldest man from Malaysia to attempt to scale Mount Everest. I pray that he succeeds in his journey to Everest,” he said.

Ngaa, who has scaled Everest eight times, was optimistic that Lee could do his best.

A Nepali man climbed Everest at the age of 76 in 2008, and a Japanese aged 80 in 2013 who was airlifted down from the 6,500m line.

The other sherpa, Ang, said scaling Mount Everest was an uphill task and required “extreme” training as it would take quite some time to reach the top of the mountain.

“Everest is not a normal mountain to hike because many climbers were killed when trying to conquer it,” he said. Ang, who has 10 years of experience in climbing, said the weather at the peak was extremely cold and could be fatal.

“I hope that Lee will successfully conquer the mountain and be able to prove to Malaysia that old age does not prevent one to do extreme activities,” he said.

Two escort climbers, Sherine Leong, 40, and Desmond Lee, 56, will accompany Lee up to the Everest Base Camp.

Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama has sent a crew of three to cover the expedition: journalist Muhammad Afiq Mohd Asri, 25; TV cameraman Fazril Amirul Azali, 23; and photographer Zulfadhli Zulkarnain, 23.

– BERNAMA