With Nepal and South Korea celebrating the golden jubilee of their bilateral relations next month, the government today decided to waive mountaineering royalty for a joint expedition attempting to climb Jugal mountains in Sindhupalchowk district.
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)
MARCH 30: A diplomatic note from the Ukrainian embassy in Delhi to Nepal's government says numerous international sports federations have barred Russian athletes.
"Taking into consideration the above, the esteemed Nepalese side is kindly requested to ban Russian mountaineering teams until the end of [the] Russian invasion into Ukraine," the letter reads.
But officials in Nepal say they are continuing to issue permits to anyone abiding by the government's rules and regulations
"There has been no change in our policy so far," the director general of Nepal's tourism department, Taranath Adhikari, told the BBC.
"We believe our mountains are global assets and any countries' citizens willing to visit them for attainment of peace should be allowed to do so - as long as they do it within our legal provisions."
The Ukrainian embassy in Delhi says it made its request to the Nepalese embassy in the Indian capital on 21 March, but Nepalese embassy officials told the BBC they had received no communication on the issue.
For the spring climbing season, which usually lasts until the end of May, one Russian climber has received a permit to climb Annapurna I (8,091m) while eight others have been given permits for peaks below 6,500m.
"We have carried on with our usual policy. Moreover, the government has not said anything in this regard, so we have not taken any new decision," says Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) president Santa Bir Lama.
Irina Galay, who describes herself as the first Ukrainian woman to ascend Everest and K2, the world's highest and second highest mountains, wrote on Instagram that Russians should not have the privilege of climbing "as long as war is continued".
"No peace, no climb. Hopefully soon we will have peace and climb."
Oleg Ivanchenko, a Ukrainian mountain guide, was planning to climb Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse this spring with two of his clients, but had to cancel after the Russian invasion.
"I know some people say mountains are sacred and it is not a place for politics, but we expect support from Russian mountaineers as well, and they can protest - or at least not climb, and stay in Russia," he says.
No Ukrainian climbers are now expected this spring.
"We had around 35 climbers from Ukraine coming in for different mountains including Everest but all of them have cancelled," says Mingma Sherpa, chairman of Seven Summit Treks, a mountaineering and trekking operator in Nepal.
"We have seen cancellations from Russians as well as other European climbers because of the war."
Nepal's department of tourism has so far issued permits for 18 expedition teams to climb mountains above 6,000m this spring season.
Of the 135 climbers in these teams, only one is from Russia.
More permits may be issued before mountaineers usually begin their final ascent in May, so the total number could change. However, expedition operators say the war has caused a significant decline in business.
Last year, in the spring and autumn climbing seasons, 49 Russians and 19 Ukrainians were registered on Nepalese mountains higher than 8,000m, according to the Himalayan Database, which records data related to mountaineering in the Nepalese Himalayas.
Out of them, 14 Russian and six Ukrainian climbers were on Everest.
A record number of more than 400 foreign climbers were given permits for Everest alone in 2021. But permits have been issued for only three Everest expedition of 16 climbers this spring season, which is traditionally busier than the autumn.
Officials with the Expedition Operators' Association of Nepal say they are neutral while dealing with mountaineers.
"We are professional operators, and we serve our clients irrespective of their nationalities," says association president Dambar Parajuli.
With inputs from BBC.
KATHMANDU, Oct. 22: Five climbers including four foreigners and a Nepali guide who were stranded on the Mera Peak in eastern Nepal due to bad weather and massive snowfalls were rescued on Thursday but a Nepali climber remains missing, said the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
"The climbers were stranded on the mountain while returning after reaching the peak. They were rescued on Tuesday and brought to the capital Kathmandu on a helicopter. They are receiving treatment at Kathmandu-based Grande Hospital," the association said in a press statement.
The Nepali climber with the expedition team is still missing on the 6,476m-high peak which lies close to Mt. Qomolangma, the world's tallest at 8848.86m, said the association which issues climbing permits for 27 Himalayan mountains ranging from 5,800m to 6,500m.
Shanta Bir Lama, president of the association, told Xinhua that the climbers were stranded on Tuesday night as weather conditions worsened and helicopters could not be mobilized for the rescue effort.
"Three climbers including a British national were staying in a cave at the height of 5,600 meters for the last three days, while the others were stranded in the base camp of the mountain," he said. "Due to bad weather, the rescue team mobilized on foot brought these three climbers out as helicopters could not be used for the search operation."
The search operation is continuing for the Nepali climber who had gone missing since Tuesday at the height of 5,600m, he added.
For the last few days, Nepal has been experiencing unseasonal rainfalls which triggered floods and landslides, mostly in the eastern and western parts of the country, and snowfalls on the mountains.
The landslides and floods have claimed 101 lives and left 41 others missing by Thursday, Nepal Police said in a statement.
KATHMANDU, Sep 1: Nepal on Tuesday started issuing permits for climbing Himalayan mountains inside the country in the fall season by allowing two teams to scale Mt. Manaslu, the world's eighth tallest peak at 8,163 meters.
Two groups comprising a combined 25 members received the first permits for the fall season that begins in September, the Department of Tourism said in a press statement.
One group has 15 members, with ten male and five female climbers, while the other has 10 male members, according to the department.
Most mountaineers usually visit Nepal to summit the Himalayan mountains in the spring, but a few of them also try their luck in the fall.
Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition, an expedition company in Nepal, is organizing the climb for the 15-member team.
Company director Mingma Gyalje Sherpa told Xinhua that a Chinese climber would lead the expedition team.
"There are two climbers from China and other climbers from different countries," Sherpa said. "The Chinese climber who is leading the team had climbed Mt. Lhotse in the spring season but stayed in Nepal due to flight restrictions amid the second wave of COVID-19 in Nepal."
He added that the team would start moving toward Mt. Manaslu after all expedition members have quarantined for ten days in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital.
The Department of Tourism issued permits for eight teams representing 58 climbers to climb five peaks in the fall season last year. In the spring season this year, a total of 633 climbers and their supporting staff scaled six mountains, including Mt. Qomolangma, the world's tallest at 8848.86 meters, according to the department.
ITAHARI, June 5: Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa is an internationally recognized mountain guide of Nepal. He was the Sherpa leader in the first measurement of Mt. Everest by Nepal. He has been to the summits of eight-thousanders 14 times and 13 times without the use of supplementary oxygen.
In the second week of April, this international mountain guide had journeyed to Mt. Makalu. However, he was not for scaling the mountain for this time around but for a cleanup campaign. The move named ' Mountain Cleaning Campaign 2021' was a project of Nepali Army.
Among the six mountains specified for this cleaning drive, Tshiring was deployed for Mt. Makalu (8463 meter), the fifth tallest peak in the world lies in Sankhuwasabha district.
“We started our journey on 14 April. Reached at Nun area, the walking point for Mt. Makalu arrived in Kathmandu on 29 May after collecting 6,607 kilograms of garbage,” said Tshiring.
''We handed over 1,725 kilograms of biodegradable garbage to the local government,'' he shared.
Tshiring was one of the 34 members of the Makalu cleanup campaign which included 10 Nepali Army personnel and 10 Sherpa supporters. The team collected garbage from the base camp and also from camp one, two and three, Tshiring informed RSS.
“A function was organized at Army Headquarters on the occasion of World Environment Day to hand over the non-biodegradable garbage collected from mountains to a recycling organization. I am so happy to be a part of this historic mountain cleanup campaign,” Tshiring added.
Having been a part of the mountain cleaning campaign and also as a resident of the mountain region, Tshiring has shared some ideas to clean the mountain and ensure sustainability of the mountaineering activities.
The first is running a cleanup campaign annually. Cleaning campaigns are necessary for mountains. Mountains are the natural magnet to lure foreigners to Nepal. They are also part of good revenues. “Nepal must not misuse this treasure. We must not let mountains be the dumping zone. We must preserve, promote and protect their natural standing, for this, an annual cleaning campaign is a great idea,” Tshiring shared his idea.
The second is promoting low and no garbage from every expedition. “Every expedition carries a huge amount of garbage. This must be stopped. The government must introduce strict rules to do so. Proper monitoring mechanism to track the garbage on all mountains should be in place,” according to Tshiring.
Huge fines must be levied on those who violated the rules and the fines amount can be utilized for the cleaning campaign, he suggested.
Promoting use of green energy instead of kerosene and other fossil fuels is imperative. He was of the view that the government should collaborate with green energy companies to ensure better options for green fuels at mountaineering activities.
Off-season cleaning to lower peaks of around 6000 meters as mountains taller than eight thousand meters cannot be cleaned in times other than in the spring season. However, smaller mountains ranging around 6000 meters can be cleaned in off-season time, he argued. There are hundreds of Sherpa and other human resources in the mountains to do so. This will give jobs to the experienced but jobless ones in this field as well as Nepal will earn its fame for the mountain cleanup drive, he observed.
He also suggested empowering local communities with technical skills and rewards as there are hundreds of thousands of mountain experts both on academic and practical fronts. “The local mountain communities are more familiar with these mountains. Their expertise generated after generations of mountain knowledge must be utilized,” Tshiring stated.
He also stressed the need for training the local people and they should be provided with knowledge on mountain cleanup.
In order to encourage locals for mountain cleanup, the government is expected to give moral and monetary rewards to the concerned community.
SOLUKHUMBU, May 17: Mountain climbing in various mountains in Nepal in the ongoing spring season has been adversely affected since Thursday due to the severe cyclonic storm formed over the Arabian Sea, according to the Department of Tourism.
Department’s Director Mira Acharya, who is currently in the Everest Base Camp, said, “Hundreds of aspiring climbers are waiting for the fair-weather window to summit the mountains.”
The expedition to the highest mountain in the world - Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) - this spring had kicked off since March 7 when the 12-member rope-fixing team had reached its summit. Since then, over 150 climbers had scaled the 8,848.86 metres-mountain, informed Acharya.
Altogether 408 climbers had obtained the permit to climb Sagarmatha this spring season.
Likewise, mountain climbing for another 334 climbers who had secured permits for other mountains has been affected due to the cyclonic storm.
However, Acharya shared climbing of Mt Ama Dablam has lready completed for this season.
Climbers, who were eyeing Nuptse and Lhotse and other mountains, were waiting for the window for fair weather, informed Acharya. She has also urged all the climbers and expedition support staffers to stay safe and abandon climbing until the weather improves.
Meanwhile, meteorologists have suggested the climbers not to consider climbing at the challenging weather like this. The effect of cyclonic storm over the Arabian Sea has been seen in Nepal as well, according to meteorologist Min Kumar Aryal.
Aryal recommended all the climbers not to climb above the base camp of the mountains they were preparing to summit until there would be improvement in the weather.
Urging for high precaution, Aryal cautioned that the cyclone was moving towards east from west and it would continue to impact the weather. More severe impacts on weather due to the cyclone is likely coming Thursday onwards.
Those who are in the higher camps of the mountains are advised to descend and take shelter in the safer areas. Aryal warned that during such time, there is likelihood of strong winds, rainfall and blizzard.
Photo: MONIKA DEUPALA epal’s spring mountaineering season, just recovering from avalanches, earthquakes, and a year of Covid-19 lockdown is once more looking uncertain with reports of coronavirus cases at the base camps of Mt Everest and Dhaulagiri. The Nepal government has tried to keep a tight lid on information from the mountains, but hospital and expedition sources confirm that there have been […]
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