The government has decided to accord a red carpet welcome to all the Everest summiteers who will be arriving in Nepal to celebrate the diamond jubilee of its first ascent next May.
On May 29, 1953, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa stepped atop the world’s highest peak. They reached the 8,848 m summit at 11:30 am over the South Route.
The government has also decided to organize a three-day celebration starting on May 29, which is International Everest Day. It has formed a main organizing committee led by Mohan Krishna Sapkota, joint secretary of the Tourism Ministry, and an event management committee comprising various stakeholders.
Aditya Baral, spokesperson of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), said that almost all the preliminary tasks had been finalized. “Two rounds of meetings have been conducted with a number of embassies to invite the summiteers from their respective countries,” he said. “We have been discussing ways to honour the Everest summiteers.”
Meanwhile, the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has been preparing a number of events in coordination with the government to celebrate the special day. “We will be organizing programmes in the Everest region and other areas,” said Ang Tshering Sherpa, immediate past president of the NMA.
According to Sherpa, there have been 6,149 ascents of Everest between 1953 and spring 2012. The actual number of persons who have summitted Everest is 3,755 as some have made more than one climb.
The royalty for climbing Everest ranges from US$ 15,000 to US$ 70,000 per expedition, depending on the number of expedition members (maximum seven) and the route. For an expedition having a maximum of 15 members, a fee of US$ 10,000 per person is charged.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
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