NAMCHE BAZAAR (Nepal), April 6 — Malaysia’s oldest climber James Lee Chong Meng, who is on the Lions Mount Everest Expedition (MEE) 2016 will proceed to Pangboche, about 15km from here today before continuing his journey to the Everest Base Camp (EBC).

The journey to the village is expected to take three to four hours, said Lee who is accompanied by MEE escorts and a team from the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) who are also part of the expedition.

“We will depart from Namche Bazaar at 9am (Nepal local time) and expect to reach Pangboche at noon and will stay there for one day. Before reaching Pangboche we will stop to rest at a village for lunch,” he told Bernama, here today.

Lee said the route to Pangboche would be a challenging one as the team would have to go through some dangerous valleys and hilly slopes.

“When we are in a high place altitude such as Pangboche that is 3,930 metres above sea level, we must walk slowly depending our ability. Possibility to get acute mountain sickness is high,” he said, adding that intense training prior to this has helped prepare him physically and mentally for this expedition.

Namche Bazaar today is experiencing fine weather with 7 degrees Celsius and is expected to facilitate easy climbing.

With over 20 years’ experience, Lee, 68, has conquered more than 20 mountains, including Mount Kinabalu, Mount Rinjani in Indonesia, Mount Fuji in Japan and Mount Ama Dablam in Nepal.

He began his quest to conquer the 8,848-metre Mount Everest on March 31 and is expected to complete his mission within 70 days while joining the expedition are two professional Sherpas, Ngaa Tenji, 33, and Ang Temba, 44.

Lee is also accompanied by Sherine Leong, 40, and Desmond Lee, 56, who will be with him until he reaches the EBC.

Bernama as the expedition’s official media, also sent three representatives, namely journalist Muhammad Afiq Mohd Asri, 25; Bernama TV cameraman Fazril Amirul, 23; and photographer Zulfadhli Zulkarnain, 23, to cover the expedition. — Bernama