Blind man scales Everest

Two climbers overcame blindness and age to scale the world’s tallest mountain today.

Erik Weihenmeyer, 32, from Colorado, became the first blind climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

And Shermann Bull, a 64-year-old Connecticut doctor, became the oldest climber ever to step onto the roof of the world, said the Nepal tourism ministry, which oversees climbing in the Himalayan kingdom.

‘‘This is quite an amazing and extraordinary feat for a blind climber to reach the summit,’’ said Ang Karma, a former official of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

‘‘The majority of the people have difficulty even getting to the base camp, let alone the summit.’’

Weihenmeyer, 32, lost his sight at 13 and took up rock climbing at 16. ‘‘Because Everest is so famous, that you read and hear so much about, I wanted to try it out,’’ he had.

Unlike most climbers who depend on careful coordination between eyes, hands and feet to make their climb, Weihenmeyer follows the sounds of bells tied to the jackets of his climbing mates and Sherpa guides.

He has already climbed Mount McKinley in Alaska, Mount Aconcagua in Argentina and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

Bull broke the record for the oldest Everest climber held by a 63-year-old.

The Everest climbing season had been plagued by bad weather. Not one climber had scaled the mountain until this week, when the weather cleared.

And, by Tuesday, 77 climbers and their Sherpa guides have succeeded in reaching the 29,035 ft peak on the Nepalese side of the mountain.

Four climbers have died.

The climbing seasons ends next Thursday.