This is Mr Miura. he is one of Japan’s old men of the mountain, a small cluster of graying Japanese climbers who since 2002 and he has been passing among themselves an august title: the oldest person to have conquered the world’s tallest peak. Miura is already famous for having skied down Everest in 1970, a feat captured in an Oscar-winning documentary. Now, for seniors like him, climbing the 29,035-foot Himalayan peak is as extreme an elderly activity as they come.

It’s no wonder that the Japanese have cornered the market in elderly Everest conquerers. The country has the world’s longest-living population and is going through a boom in activities for the elderly.

Actually, Toshio Yamamoto started the string of Japanese victories by scaling the peak in 2000 at 63 years. In 2001, American Sherman Bull reached the summit at 64 years old. Tomiyasu Ishikawa, then 65, took the title in 2002.

Miura won the distinction in 2003, at 70, but was eclipsed by fellow Japanese climber Takao Arayama, who scaled the peak in 2006, just three days older than Miura was when he did it. Katsusuke Yanagisawa took the crown this year, at age 71 years and 63 days.