KATHMANDU, May 16: Expedition to Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak, has been affected for the past two days due to adverse climate. Department of Tourism Director Rakesh Gurung said that no one has been able to reach the summit of Mount Everest since Tuesday as the climate is adverse towards the upper part of camp IV.
KATHMANDU, May 16: Expedition to Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak, has been affected for the past two days due to adverse climate. Department of Tourism Director Rakesh Gurung said that no one has been able to reach the summit of Mount Everest since Tuesday as the climate is adverse towards the upper part of camp IV.
A multidisciplinary team of climate scientists and world-renowned climbers has returned to the world’s highest peak as a part of the National Geographic Scientific Expedition aiming to conduct essential maintenance on world’s highest weather stations on Mt Everest.
KATHMANDU, April 9: Few days ago, I announced plans to scale Mt Everest on social media and a television program. It didn’t get anyone’s attention until I received a flag of Nepal from the Minister to be held on my summit day. After that I received numerous phone calls. It made me clear that only those activities in which Ministers are involved get popularity in this country.
I have been planning my Everest expedition for one year. I successfully summited Lobuche Peak, 6,119 meters, last year and have already spent 10 to 12 days in Everest Base Camp. Besides, I have already scaled numerous peaks higher than 4,000 meters. It includes two mountains from the Langtang region, Dudhkunda of Solukhumbu, Pikey Peak among others. Also, I have recently completed a ‘basic course’ for mountaineering. I think I am prepared now.
It has been in my bucket list for a long period
I have always wanted to scale Mt Everest once. Summiting Lobuche last year has inspired even more. Besides, many of my friends are mountaineers who have always been inspiring me to summit Everest. So, I have decided to begin my Everest expedition from April 10, 2022. I hope I will be successful.
I am scaling Mt Everest in a bid to raise the issues of climate change, global warming and make people aware about it. Our mountains are the most vulnerable to climate change. Our glaciers are vanishing and the snow is melting. If it continues and no effective measures are not taken, our mountains will no longer be mountains by next two to three centuries. If it happens, what are we leaving behind for our upcoming generations? What if there is no snow on Mt Everest?
We get to see mountains. It is the right of our coming generation to see the same. It is our responsibility to protect and preserve them. These are the sorts of messages I want to disseminate while scaling Mt Everest.
Recently, a devastating flash flood and landslide in Melamchi River of Sindhupalchok took lives of hundreds of people and thousands have been displaced. This is the result of climate change and our failure to protect our environment. I am also a victim of that disaster. It swept away my house and land there.
Annually, many big cities and human settlements are inundated by flash floods in the Terai region. Isn’t it the effects of climate change?
Sagarmatha Concert
I am also organizing a concert at the Camp 2 of Mt Everest. I want to draw the attention of global communities to act and take actions against climate change.
So far, no concert has been held at an altitude higher than 6,500 meters, so it is going to be history in itself. I urge the government, authorities concerned and the general public to take the issues of climate change seriously. It is a small step today for a bigger and brighter tomorrow.
There will be no band with me. I will be playing a guitar and singing as it is challenging to take a music band with me at that altitude.
Our Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Prem Bahadur Ale has recently provided a flag of Nepal to me. I will be holding the flag high on the summit day at the top of the world.
There is no sponsor of the expedition
I will be scaling Mt Everest with my personal investment and support from some of my friends. After the expedition, I have decided to launch a campaign of afforestation. Me and some of my friends have already established a fund for it. I urge one and all to participate in the campaign.
Besides, I am also collaborating with the Nepal Army in the cleanliness of Himalayan regions in Nepal. I recently recorded a song titled ‘ Safa Himal Aviyan’ prepared by the Nepal Army.
(Based on conversation with singer Raju Lama)
KATHMANDU, March 28: Eight environment journalists from Nepal, India and Bangladesh will be part of an expedition to the Everest region to attend a climate change boot camp that will enable nuanced science reporting from the tough and underreported terrain.
The camp, funded by the Spark Grant Initiative of the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) , will be organized from 20 to 28 April 2022.
The journalists -- four from Nepal and two each from India and Bangladesh – were chosen through a competitive call for application by the Nepal Forum of Science Journalists (NFSJ).
The eight journalists includes Balika Maden, Gobinda Prasad Pokharel, Marissa Taylor and Saugat Bolakhe from Nepal, Arathi Menon and Raihana Maqbool from India and Sohara Mehroze Shachi and Zakir Hossain Chowdhury from Banglades. These journalists will get a first hand view of climate change and its impacts in the Everest region settlements around Lukla, Monjo, Khumjung, Namche and Phakding.
The boot camp will be mentored by Indian science journalist Subhra Priyadarshini, Chief Editor, Nature India, Nepali environment journalist/Editor Ramesh Bhushal, The Third Pole, and Climate scientist Dr. Sudeep Thakuri, Associate Professor/ Dean, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Mid-western University, Surkhet, Nepal.
Science journalist Chhatra Karki, the team lead for the boot camp, says geographical remoteness of the Everest region and lack of resources in newsrooms have hampered field reportage on the impact of climate change in the Himalaya, including in the delicate Everest region. “The boot camp – to our knowledge, the first such – aims to enable journalists in the region to literally scale these heights to bring back untold stories.”
“The boot camp will be a great opportunity for the participating journalists to include nuanced evidence in their reportage – both from the field and from the ongoing scientific inquiry in the region,” says Priyadarshini, also the founding president of the Science Journalists Association of India (SJAI).
“This project is very interesting as, while being original, it is coming from a region that is sometimes forgotten when talking about science journalism needs,” says Olivier Dessibourg, chairperson of the Spark Grant Initiative of the WFSJ and president of its jury.
Climate change induced snow melts, glacial lakes outbursts and unseasonal floods, emissions from man-made interventions, and poor energy and water availability affect the lives of people not only in Nepal but also across the Hind Kush Himalayan region spanning eight countries.
This inaugural boot camp will focus on the three countries in the basin of river Koshi – Nepal, India and Bangladesh. At the week-long intensive boot camp, journalists will get a chance to talk about common issues around climate change facing Asia and potentially forge reporting collaborations. The camp will facilitate open interactions among participants, trainers, scientists, academics, NGOs and policy makers to create an experiential learning and critical thinking atmosphere, the results of which will hopefully continue to be seen long after the camp is over. In-depth field reporting from the Everest region will provide better insights to governments and policymakers to formulate evidence-based climate policies.
Although having adverse climate during the expedition the team of Mr. Mingma David Sherpa-Brand Face, Everest Bank Ltd. has successfully summit the new height of
