A Nepalese man has become the oldest person to climb Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain. Officials confirmed the fact that the 77-year-old Bahadur Sherchan has reached the summit on Sunday morning.

The climber was reportedly in good health, was safely coming down the icy slopes and was set to base camp on Monday, according to Nepal's Tourism Ministry official Ramesh Chetri, The Associated Press reported.

Numerous climbers reached the 8,850m (29,035ft) summit. According to officials, there were 86 mountaineers at the summit on Sunday. The main cause of the large number of climbers is the fact that ascents were temporarily halted because of security concerns over the Olympic torch relay.

Nearly 2,500 people have reached the summit of Everest since it was first climbed by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

The previous record was held by a Japanese climber. Katsusuke Yanagisawa, a teacher, has reached the Everest peak at age 71.

Sherchan said in a message posted on a website for the 2008 senior citizens' Everest expedition that he climbed the peak to motivate the Nepalese pensioners to look for a better life.

"...I have commenced the great mission with a great vision in a great season (spring season) to fight against the mighty Mount Everest with my will-power of mind and clean energy of my heart," Sherchan said.