Malaysian mountaineer James Lee Chong Meng says he faces challenging days having to contend with unforgiving temperatures as well as difficult terrain as he attempts to reach the Mount Everest summit.

In an update for the period from April 26 to May 3, the country's oldest mountaineer said he had climbed up to over 7,000m between Camp 2 and Camp 3, camping at the former.

"Very challenging days of hard climbing, bitter cold especially at night, with temperatures that can go down to as low as -20 degrees (Celcius). Each crevice and ravine to cross is already a challenge in itself," he said.

Lee, 69, said it was "a life experience of a very different kind".

The adventurer said his face had become like a "roasted lobster", no thanks to the weather conditions and continuous reflective exposure to the sun.

Lee said he was having problems to relay video recordings of his mission back home due to the iffy communication lines.

During his first attempt to scale Mount Everest in May last year, Lee had to abort the climb in the final stage at Camp 3, at a height of 7,200m, due to bad weather.

Mount Everest is the world's tallest, at 8,848m high.

Bernama is a media partner of the mission, officially called the Lion Mount Everest Expedition (MEE) 2017, organised by the Lions Club Port Dickson Pantai.

Lee is carrying MEE's two important messages, namely to inspire people of all ages to capitalise on good health to be active in society, and to draw attention on the need to preserve the environment.

- Bernama