Film actor Arjun Karki climbs Mt. Everest

Nepali film actor Arjun Karki has successfully scaled Mt. Everest.

Karki along with national marathon runner Sanjya Pandey reached the top of the peak at 7:30 on Monday morning, RSS said quoting their team´s liaison officer Ongchhu Sherpa. Karki had embarked on Everest expedition along with actress Nisha Adhikari, who is yet to reach the summit.

They have already returned to the camp- 4 now. Actor Karki was dragged into controversy for climbing the peak on permission for expedition´s high altitude worker.

Source: nepalnews.com

Nepal investigating Everest call

A BRITISH mountaineer’s interview with the BBC on his smartphone from the top of Mount Everest has stirred controversy with the Nepalese government calling the broadcast “illegal”, officials said Monday.

British mountaineer Daniel Hughes gave a live video interview to the BBC on his smartphone from the 8,848-metres (29,029-feet) peak on Sunday morning.

“This is the world’s first live video call — never been done before — from the rooftop of the world,” said the climber while breathing heavily through an oxygen mask and wearing a clown’s red nose for charity.

“I don’t have a camera man with me. It’s me with a pole, an HTC smartphone…and of course my red nose. It’s a very proud moment to be here and two-and-a-half years in the making,” he added.

The mountain has had mobile phone coverage for several years.

But Purnachandra Bhattarai, joint secretary of Nepal’s tourism ministry, told AFP Hughes had broken the law by not seeking permission from the government for his broadcast.

“Even the tourism ministry has to seek permission from the communication ministry to film, broadcast or conduct media related events on Everest,” Bhattarai said.

He said Hughes’ trekking agency was under investigation as a result of the incident but did not elaborate further.

During a so-called “fair weather” window on Sunday, 146 people reached the summit of the world’s highest peak, featuring teams claiming records for the first women from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, Indian sisters as the first twins, and a British climber completing the feat for his eleventh time.

Hughes was climbing to raise money for a Britain-based charity.

The mountain has become a popular symbolic pilgrimage site for record-setting, awareness-raising, and pledge drives for charities, which have increased crowds on the mountain.

Last year, more than 250 climbers reached the summit in a 48-hour stretch of good weather despite warnings of potentially deadly bottlenecks in the “death zone” above 8,000 meters.

A brawl between European climbers and Nepalese Sherpas high on the mountain in April cast a shadow over the climbing season, which marks the 60th anniversary of Edmund Hillary’s and Tenzing Norgay’s maiden summit.

“This summit season has already been marked by controversy and we don’t want it to happen again,” said Bhattarai.

Source: Perth Now

Live video call from Everest summit causes controversy

Kathmandu: “It´s a very proud moment to be here. It´s been two-and-a-half-years in the making,” said a British explorer Daniel Thomas Hughes in the first ever video call from the top of the Mount Everest, Sunday morning.

The video call made via smartphone from the highest peak in the world was aired live by BBC World. As per the request made by the TV anchor, Hughes had briefly panned around his smartphone from the top of the Everest, showing BBC audience across the globe a spectacular view of the snow-clad mountains.

In the video call that lasted 2 minutes and 45 seconds, Hughes said, “This is the world´s highest live video, never had been this before.”

Taking a pause to breathe in enough oxygen, he added, “It´s windy here. They are Sherpas around me. I can see big holes around here. This is the highest peak I had ever been to.”

Hughes scaled Mt Everest in an attempt to raise £1 million to Comic Relief, a major charity based in the UK which strives to create a just world free from poverty. The charity aims at driving positive change through the power of entertainment.

The Comic Relief together with its sister project Sports Relief alternatively host Red Nose Day telethon biennially to raise fund for charity in the UK.

May is the most popular month for Everest climbs because of more favorable weather. Hughes along with 140 other climbers made it to the top of the Mount Everest a day after 64 climbers, including a Saudi Arabian woman, successfully scaled the 8,848 meter high peak.

When Hughes reached to the top he put on his red nose, a symbol of charity in UK, and made the first ever live video phone call from the summit. During the final part of the climb he had to walk uphill for 12 hours straight.

Hughes, 33, made it to the top of the Mount Everest as a member of member of the Jagged Globe Everest Expedition 2013. A local company named Summit Nepal Trekking Private Limited had coordinated the expedition team that included Hughes.

Meanwhile, government officials in Kathmandu said Jagged Globe Everest Expedition 2013, which took Hughes to the top of the Mount Everest, is found to have not taken due government permission to film Mount Everest. “It is found that the company concerned is found to have taken permission only for taking walkie-talkie for communication,” said a senior official at the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC), which issues permits for filming and taking other means of communications.

Officials said the permission of the MoIC is a must for filming or making any audio visual materials for public broadcasts. While it cost $10,000 for acquiring permit for filming or producing audio/visual materials, any climber, who wishes to take satellite phone with him/her, has to pay Rs 120,000 to acquire government permission for each of its terminal.

Chief of Tourism Industry Division under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) Purna Chandra Bhattarai said the live video call from the top of Mt Everest without due permission from the government agencies concerned has drawn their serious attention. “We will inquire with its local agency first about the incident and recommend to the concerned authorities for necessary action after further investigation,” said Bhattarai.

As per the existing government legislation, both the Ministry of Information and Communications and Sagarmatha National Park are authorized to take legal action against any climber taking such equipment to the mountain without prior approval. “The successful ascent of Hughes to Mount Everest summit may itself be questionable as he is found to be engaged in the activities other than those permitted to him,” said another senior official at MoIC.

Source: Republica

Climbers near Everest dream as ‘fair weather window’ opens

Kathmandu: The wait is over. After a month of walking and acclimatizing, hoards of Everest aspirants are inching closer to their dreams of reaching the top of the world.

According to senior mountaineering officials, weathermen have forecast the “fair weather window” from May 18 to 25 for Everest ascent this spring expedition.

The 8,848-m Mt Everest, or Sagarmatha, saw its first spring summit this year on May 10. “As weather was partly fair, eleven rope-fixing Sherpas reached the top at 11:30 am,” said Ang Tshiring Sherpa, chairman of Asian Trekking.

On May 11, Spanish national David Liano succeeded Everest with his companion high-altitude climbing Sherpa Samden Bhote despite high winds. Both reached the summit at 08:05 am.

At least 43 individuals, including 16 foreigners, have already climbed the Everest as of Friday, according to Gyanendra Shrestha, an official of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. “Although there was sporadic climbing as of Friday, Everest will see a beeline of climbers to their way up to the mountain from Saturday onwards,” Shrestha said.

Around 670 individuals, including 315 foreigners are in a bid to climb Mt Everest. Last spring, there were 560 individuals, including 335 foreigners, but only 181 made to the top. Last year, Everest witnessed a “traffic jam” due to small weather of window and bad weather had prevented rope-fixing work. “As fair weather has been forecast for the next week, we are expecting such a traffic jam will not occur this time.”

In addition, Sherpa said there are two separate ropes fixed—one for climbing and another for descending-at the Hillary Step, a 40-ft wall of rock just below the Everest , which is the most difficult climbing section. “Last year, traffic jam occurred as there was only one rope or ladder at the Hillary Step,” Sherpa said.

RECORD ENDEAVOURS

Eighty-one-year-old Nepali mountaineer Min Bahadur Sherchan and 80-year-old Japanese Yuichiro Miura are set to make an assault on Everest to secure the title of the world’s oldest person to scale the world’s highest peak. Officials said Miura is at Camp 2, while Sherchan has reached the base camp.

Sherchan had scaled Mt Everest on May 25, 2008, at the age of 76 years and 340 days and was officially recognized as the oldest person to climb the mountain by the Guinness World Records in November 2009. Sherchan had replaced Miura in the Guinness Records. Miura had first climbed the peak in 2003 at the age of 70. He climbed Everest again in May 2008 when he was 75, but this time failed to set a record as he reached the summit a day after Sherchan achieved the feat at 76.

Sudarshan Gautam, a Nepali Canadian, plans to become the first amputee to climb the mountain to spread the message that “disability is not inability”. Gautam, 30, who lost both his hands at the age of in an accident, will climb Everest without the use of prosthetic limbs.

Meanwhile, Phurba Tashi Sherpa made his 20th Everest ascent on May 10, according to Ang Tshiring Sherpa. “He has planned to climb Everest for 21st time in a few days to equalize the world set by Apa Sherpa,” said Ang Tshiring. “And, if things go as planned, Phurba could make his third attempt this season to secure the world record title of the most Everest ascents.”

Apa is the only man in the history to reach the top of the world 21 times. Phurba climbed Everest three times in the 2007 season alone, and twice in 2011.

Actress Nisha Adhikari and actor Arjun Karki are other aspirants awaiting favorable weather window. According to Shrestha, Karki plans to climb within a few days, while Adhikari plans to climb towards the end of the season.

Spaniard Carlos Pauner is aiming to summit Everest and accomplish his pursuit of climbing all eight-thousanders without oxygen, according to explorersweb.com.

According to the website, Pakistani Siblings Mirza Ali and Samina Baig are climbing under the slogan “Gender Equality”. They are part of the Seven Summit Treks Everest expedition. Samina Baig is the first Pakistani female to attempt, Everest while her brother Mirza Ali wants to reach the summit without using supplemental oxygen.

Three Sherpas and a foreigner have lost their lives at Everest so far this climbing season. Fifty-year-old Russian climber Alex Bolotov died last Wednesday in Khumbu icefall at 5600-metre, according to government officials.

Source: ekantipur

First Saudi Woman Scales Mount Everest

Kathmandu: A Saudi Arabian woman was among 64 people who successfully scaled Mount Everest on Saturday from Nepal’s side of the mountain, according to mountaineering officials.

An official with Nepal’s Mountaineering Department, Tilak Padney, said that 35 foreigners accompanied by 29 Nepalese Sherpa guides reached the 29,035-foot peak on Saturday morning after climbing all night from the highest camp on South Col, the pass between Everest and a neighboring mountain.

All the climbers were reported to be safe.

The Saudi climber, Raha Moharrak, is the first Saudi woman to scale the world’s highest peak. She is 25, and now lives in Dubai, according to the BBC.

Everest can be climbed from either Nepal or Tibet.

May is the most popular month for Everest climbs because weather tends to be more favorable then.

Source: The New York Times 

Nepal to mark diamond jubilee of man’s conquest of Mt. Qomolangma

Kathmandu: The Nepali government is going to organize special programs in Mt. Qomolangma (Mt. Everest) region and the capital city here to celebrate the diamond jubilee of man’ s conquest on the highest peak of the Earth, officials said on Monday.

Such programs will be organized between May 27 and 29 to mark the first ascent of Qomolangma on May 29, 1953 by Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary.

“This will be a special occasion in the world history of mountaineering and Nepalese tourism stakeholders will cherish the jubilant and festive-mood with the series of events marking the 60th anniversary,” Mt. Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebrations Secretariat under Nepal Tourism Board said in a press release.

As a part of the celebration, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Nepal Tourism Board and Nepal Mountaineering Association in close association with the entire industry will organize various programs, the Secretariat said.

The Nepali government has allocated 30 million rupees (340,909 U.S. dollars) for the programs.

The government plans to award Diamond Jubilee medals to all Mt. Qomolangma record holders and for that purpose, the government has invited all record holders in Nepal to come into contact.

As per the detail program made public by Nepal Tourism Board, a special conference will be organized on May 29 in Khumbu region, which will discuss about mountain tourism in the presence of national and international dignitaries.

Similarly, special Diamond Jubilee programs will be organized at Khumjung School on May 29 and a postal stamp will be released to mark the Diamond Jubilee.

On the occasion of this historic celebration, the Nepali government has already decided to waive the royalty fees for mountain peaks of mid-western and far-western region for climbers.

Nepali missions in the various countries are also promoting Jubilee celebration programs.

Similarly, awareness programs on the importance of mountain and tourism, concessions in the tourism services to Qomolangma summiteers, Qomolangma cleaning expedition, inter-college essay competition and art and photo exhibitions related to Qomolangma are other programs being organized to mark the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Source: China Daily

Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebration

The 60th anniversary celebration of the first ascent of Mt. Everest is going to be observed, commemorating the day when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa successfully climbed the summit.

On May 29th 2013, it will be 60 years since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa first scaled the summit. To remember this momentous occasion the government of Nepal, under the coordination Mt. Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebration Committee, is organizing various programs and events in Nepal on the month of May. In this occasion, the Celebration Committee warmly invites all Mt. Everest summiteers around the world and organize felicitation program in Nepal.

Everest Marathon will be the primary attraction of the event apart from different community development programs in the Khumbu region. Athletes from 103 countries are participating in the marathon to be held at Mt Everest Base Camp on May 29.

The commemorating event will be an exciting opportunity to join in the Everest Region on 29 May to celebrate the grand anniversary of the first ascent of Mt Everest in 1953.

Trekking in Mt. Everest Region

For many the journey to Nepal would not be complete without a glance of the highest mountain in the world.

For some it will be enough to view Everest sitting in the comfort of a plane.

For others however the quest will not satiate until and unless they traverse into the region.

Unleash the dream to be at the world’s tallest mountain region and be there with Himalayan Glacier.

Everest locale is the most popular trekking region in the world.

The Everest region is within Sagamartha National Park. Sagamartha National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site, includes the upper catchments areas of the Dudh Kosi and Bhote Kosi Rivers. It is largely composed of rugged terrain and deep gorges within an elevation of 2845m at Monju to the top of the world, Mt. Everest at 8,848m. Other peaks above 6,000m are Lhotse, Cho-Oyu, Thamserku, Nuptse, Amadablam, and Pumori.

The flora at lower levels is dominated by silver fir, birch, rhododendron and juniper trees, at around 4500m the forest gives way to Juniper and rhododendron scrub. The park contains a variety of mammals, Himalayan thar, musk deer, the Himalayan red panda and the Himalayan black bear are all native to the park.

The famed Sherpa people, whose lives are interwoven with the teachings of Buddhism, live in the region. The renowned Tengboche and other monasteries are common gathering places to celebrate religious festivals such as Dumje and Mane Rumdu. Furthermore, Tengboche, Thame, Khumjung and Pangboche are some other famous monasteries available in the region.

The trek from Namche to Kala Pathar is very popular. The Gokyo Lake and Chukung valleys also provide spectacular views.

The Thame Valley is popular for Sherpa culture while Phortse is famous for wildlife viewing. There are some high passes worth crossing over as well.

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