KATHMANDU - As snowstorms lashed Nepal's Himalayan region a few days ago, a five-year-old boy from New Delhi and his father stayed indoors at a small lodge in Pheriche, a village in the Everest region located 4,371m above sea level.

They were worried that the mission that they had set out to accomplish could get jeopardised midway. But the weather cleared two days later and they set out again towards their goal.

Last Friday, Harshit Saumitra a pupil from GD Goenka School in New Delhi, reached the Everest Base Camp, situated at 5,364m, the Hindustan Times reported.

He became arguably the youngest person to complete the difficult trek and his parents are trying to register his name in the Guinness World Records and Limca Book of Records.

It took the child 10 days to cover the 62km trek, many sections of which were covered by 13cm to 18cm of snow from the snowstorm caused by the tail-end of cyclone Hudhud.

"I felt very good. I unfurled the tricolour at the Everest Base Camp," said Harshit at a press meet here after his return from the trek. He also climbed the Kalapathar (5,550m) peak, near the Everest Base Camp.

His father, Mr Rajeev Saumitra, claimed that Harshit broke the 2012 record held by seven-year-old Aaryan Balaji, also an Indian, the Times of India reported. "We were worried that Harshit might experience altitude sickness. But he didn't face any problem," said Mr Saumitra, a mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest last year.

Harshit, who climbed Rohtang Pass (3,930m) before attempting Everest Base Camp, has his eyes set on climbing Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895m) in Africa next. He then plans to attempt Mount Everest (8,848m) in a few years.