An 85-year-old Nepali has died while attempting to scale Mount Everest to regain his title as the oldest person to climb the world's highest peak, officials say.

Key points: Great-grandfather of six first held age record after climbing Everest in May 2008

Great-grandfather of six first held age record after climbing Everest in May 2008 His record was broken by 80-year-old Japanese Yuichiro Miura in 2013

His record was broken by 80-year-old Japanese Yuichiro Miura in 2013 Not believed to have suffered from respiratory problems

Min Bahadur Sherchan died at the base camp on Saturday evening, but the cause of death was not immediately clear, said Dinesh Bhattarai, chief of Nepal's Tourism Department.

Mountaineering official Gyanendra Shrestha, who was at the base camp, said the cause was likely cardiac arrest but he could not give details because of a poor telephone connection.

The grandfather of 17 and great-grandfather of six first scaled Everest in May 2008, when he was 76 — at the time the oldest climber to reach the top.

His record was then broken by 80-year-old Japanese Yuichiro Miura in 2013.

Before leaving for the mountain last month, Mr Sherchan said that once he had completed the climb and become famous, he intended to travel to areas of conflict to spread a message of peace.

He trained for months before the attempt and was not believed to suffer from any respiratory problems.

Mr Sherchan had hoped to travel and spread peace after completing his final Everest climb. ( AP: Niranjan Shrestha, file image )

Having been born in the mountains, Mr Sherchan was accustomed to the high altitudes and low oxygen levels of the Himalayas.

His love of mountaineering began in 1960 when he was assigned by the Nepalese Government as a liaison officer for the Swiss team climbing Mount Dhaulagiri.

He later became an apple farmer and constructed roads and dams before settling down to run hotels in Kathmandu.

AP