A mountaineering company claimed that a 70-year-old Japanese man on one of its expeditions Wednesday became the oldest person to scale Mount Everest, edging the record-holder by three days.

Japanese mountaineer Takako Arayama, 70, poses at the top of the Mount Everest May 17, 2006. Arayama is the oldest person to scale the world's highest peak from the Tibetan side. Picture taken May 17, 2006. [Reuters]

A spokesman for Guinness World Records in London said it couldn't immediately confirm the feat.

Takao Arayama, aged 70 years, 7 months and 13 days, scaled the 29,035-foot peak, according to Toshinori Koya, who heads Tokyo-based company Adventure Guides, which planned the climb.

The Guinness World Records Web site says the record has been held by Yuichiro Miura, also of Japan, who reached the summit at the age of 70 years, 7 months and 10 days, on May 22, 2003.

Koya said Arayama climbed the mountain as part of a five-member team, and team leader Kenji Kondo contacted the company by satellite phone several hours after reaching the peak.

Arayama, a corporate management consultant, has safely descended to a lower camp on the mountain and is in good health, Koya said.