Miura begins third assault on Mount Everest

Japanese octogenarian Yuichiro Miura on Thursday began his third assault on Mount Everest. He is challenging the 8,848-meter peak to try and recapture a record he previously held for being the oldest person to scale the world's highest mountain.

Miura, 80, and his team left their base camp at 5:40 a.m. Thursday and climbed about 700 meters over eight hours. The team's goal is to climb about 500 meters a day before reaching the summit on May 24.

Miura's 2003 record was broken in 2007 when fellow Japanese Katsusuke Yanagisawa scaled the summit when he was 71. Miura conquered Everest for the second time in May 2008, just one day after Min Bahadur Sherchan made it to the top at the age of 76. The Nepalese is the current world record holder, according to Guinness World Records.

Miura made world headlines in 1970 when he became the first person to ski down Everest -- from an 8,000-meter point on the South Col route.

His parachute-aided descent was documented in the 1975 film "The Man Who Skied Down Everest" which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

High-octane endeavors are in his blood -- his own father Keizo skied down Mont Blanc at age 99. The senior Miura died seven years ago aged 101.

© Japan Today/AFP