Japanese climber Takao Arayama, 70, seen here on Mount Everest in a 17 May 2006 hand-out photo, told reporters he marked the achievement of being the oldest man to scale the mountain, by leaving a photograph of his dog on the summit.  A 70-year-old Japanese climber believed to be the oldest man to scale Everest marked the achievement by leaving a photograph of his dog on the summit. Takao Arayama, aged 70 years and 225 days when he topped the world's highest mountain last Wednesday, beat the record held by a fellow countryman by just three days. Arayama, who confessed to suffering headaches and breathing difficulties during the oxygen-aided ascent, said it was a wonderful feeling when he finally reached the top of the 8,848-metre mountain. "I am very happy to be the oldest man to scale the world's highest peak," the fit-looking and ruddy-cheeked Arayama said on his return to Nepal's capital Kathmandu. The previous record holder was Yuichiro Miura, a professional skier, who made it to the summit of Everest in May 2003 aged 70 years and 222 days, according to Guinness World Records. "I stayed for 30 minutes on the top of the mountain and took some pictures and left a picture of my dog, Pacu," Arayama said. "It was a wonderful feeling. Everything was below me, all the mountains and the world, when I reached the top," he said. Arayama, a corporate management consultant from Kamakura, south of Tokyo, was part of an 11-person team that included six Nepalese Sherpas and five Japanese climbers. He first climbed an 800-metre mountain near Tokyo at the age of 12 that inspired him to continue his obsession. He has scaled 6,194-meter Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America, and tackled the Alps. He only started on Everest when aged in his 60s.   (Agencies)

一位70歲的日本登山者登上珠穆朗瑪峰，被認為是目前為止登上珠峰年齡最大的人，這位老人把他愛犬的照片留在了頂峰，作為他登上珠峰的證明。 這位名叫高雄荒山的老人于上周三——他70歲零225天的那一天，登上了世界最高峰，因為比之前登頂的本國同胞年長三天而創造了一個新的紀錄。 荒山毫不隱瞞地承認，在登頂過程中雖然有吸氧設備，他還是感到了頭疼和呼吸困難。 不過他又說，最終到達這座海拔達8848米的高山之頂時，感覺十分奇妙。 荒山老人面色紅潤，看起來很健康。在返回尼泊爾首都加滿德都的途中，他說：“能成為登上世界最高峰的最長者，我感到很高興。” 據《吉尼斯世界紀錄大全》記載，之前的紀錄保持者是一位名叫尤一郎三浦的專業滑雪者。他在2003年5月登上珠穆朗瑪峰時的年齡為70歲零222天。 荒山說：“我在頂峰上停留了30分鐘，拍了一些照片，還把我的狗狗Pacu的照片留在了那里。” “那種感覺妙極了，我站在山頂時，看著群山與整個世界都在我的腳下。” 荒山老人來自位于東京以南的鐮侖市，是一名企業管理顧問。他參加的珠峰登山隊由11名隊員組成，其中包括6名尼泊爾夏爾巴人和5名日本人。 12歲時，荒山第一次登上了東京附近一座海拔800米的山，這次經歷激發了他對登山的濃厚興趣。 他成功登上了北美最高峰--海拔6194米的麥金利山脈，還戰勝了阿爾卑斯山。在60多歲時，他才開始嘗試攀登珠峰。 (英語點津姍姍編輯)