Nepalese boy on course to be youngest to climb Everest... at the age of 10

A nine-year-old Nepalese boy is on course to becoming the youngest person to climb the world's highest mountain, Everest.

Tseten Sherpa, who scaled a 6,000-metre (19,700-foot) peak last week, could beat the record set by American Jordan Romero, who was 13 when he managed the feat in May.

According to Nepalese law, climbers must be over the age of 16, but Tseten's determined father, Pemba Dorje Sherpa, is seeking special dispensation so his son can make his attempt in April, when he will be 10.

The child climbed Mount Ramdung in eastern Nepal last Wednesday, and Pemba Dorje Sherpa - a reknowned climber himself - said he wanted his son to become the youngest person ever to reach the Everest summit.

Pemba Dorje Sherpa, who holds the world record for the fastest ascent of Everest - it took him eight hours and 10 minutes - said earlier this year he wanted to find a Nepalese child to beat Romero's record.

'I think all the Everest records should be held by Nepalese people,' he had said. 'Nepal is a small country and we do not get much good publicity.

But tourism ministry official Baburam Bhandari has warned that the government would not allow the climber to take his son on to the mountain.

'We will not let him climb Mount Everest,' he said. 'Our climbing regulations clearly state that you must be at least 16.'

Everest straddles Nepal and China, and Romero obtained his permit to climb from China, which did not have any age restrictions at that time.

His climb provoked criticism from many in the mountaineering community, however.

David Hillebrandt, medical adviser to the British Mountaineering Council, said: 'It was totally against the spirit of true mountaineering.'

He also questioned whether Romero was sufficiently mature to make the decision to climb.

But the acting president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Nima Numa Sherpa, said that the boy's background as a local child used to climbing the rugged Himalayan terrain could work in his favour against the restrictions.

'It is different for mountain people living in the Himalayas to somebody coming from abroad,' he said.

'If the boy is accompanied by his father, and he is from the local Himalayan region, then I don't consider this a big issue.'

Around 3,000 people have climbed Everest since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to conquer the 8,848-metre (29,028-foot) peak in 1953.

Several hundred have died, many of them falling to their deaths or succumbing to altitude sickness during the gruelling ascent.