Himalayan Expedition Spring 2013 News - June

2013-06-10

Dear Friends,
Namaste, Tashidelek and warm greetings from Nepal.
As always, much has been happening in Nepal and the Himalaya since I last wrote to you. I have listed the topics below for your convenience.
Summary of our Spring Climbing Season
Summit reports of Asian Trekking’s Spring Expedition
Summary of our Mt. Everest Cleaning Campaign of 2013- “Cash For Trash”
Record holding summits
Upcoming Expeditions in Autumn/Fall 2013.

Summary Of The Spring Climbing Season 2013:

We had a busy and very successful mountaineering season in Nepal as well as in Tibet.
In this newsletter, I am delighted to share with you the stories and events of this Climbing Season. It also gives me great pleasure to share with you some important news from the mountaineering arena such as accomplishments, felicitations, festivals and celebrations, plus upcoming events in the calendar.
I am also excited to inform you that I have been doing a lot of research this year as usual to investigate the number of summits as well as the number of individuals (some having summited more than once) who have summited Everest through history; to document records and remarkable climbs in this climbing season; to summarize the Himalayan mountaineering industry and assess calculations to examine what the economic and financial contributions of the mountaineering industry has had on Nepal in this past spring climbing season. Also Nepal Government’s revise tourism policy on mountaineering expedition and adventure tourism such as rescue, insurence, garbage management, mountain environment protection, fee structure etc. I will be posting this information in a separate email very soon. It will also be available on our website www.asian-trekking.com.

Asian Trekking’s Spring Exp. 2012 Summit Reports:

Eco Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebration Expedition 2013:

To commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the first ascent of Mt. Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgey Sherpa, we had named this year’s Eco Everest Expedition in honour of this important day.
As always the expedition was led by my son, Dawa Steven Sherpa, and yet again he conducted his clean up campaign. Furthermore, he had also been nominated by Expedition Operators Association of Nepal as one of the two task force members responsible for overseeing the rope fixing and coordinating summit schedules of the various expeditions on Mt. Everest and Mt. Lhotse. By coordinating and communicating between the teams we were able to avoid most of the congestion and thereby reduce accidents and deaths.
This year, Eco Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebration Expedition had two teams with a total of 22 members and 38 Sherpas and cooks. Dawa Steven was the Expedition Leader, while our Expedition Doctor and Base camp Manager was Dr. Nima Namgyal Sherpa, our Sirdar was Naga Dorjee Sherpa and our Head Cook was Chandra Tamang. There were 25 Climbing Sherpas in total and 11 Base Camp and Camp 2 cooks.
The following members and Sherpas of Eco Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebration Expedition (Team 1 & 2) successfully climbed Mt. Everest:
Pemba Tshering Sherpa and Sera Gyalzen Sherpa on 10th May at 11:55 am (rope fixing team to summit)
David Liano Gonzalez of Mexico and High-Altitude Sherpa (HAS) Samden Bhote on 11th May at 08:05 am
Anita Devi of India and HAS Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa on 18th May at 08:45 am
Allan Arthur Johnson of Canada and HAS Tenjin Dorji Sherpa on 19th May at 05:00 am

Horacio Daniel Galanti of Canada and HAS Ang Mingma Sherpa on 19thMay at 07:00 am
Horacio Luis Cunieti Argentina and HAS Purba Sherpa 19th May at 07:00 am
Sushen Mahato of India and HAS Phura Jangbu Sherpa on 19th May at 07:00 am
Udo Ing. Ebner of Austria and HAS Phura Nuru Sherpa on 19th May at 07:30 am
Dr. Nima Namgyal Sherpa and HAS Nawang Kalden Sherpa on 19th May at 07:30 am
Barnabas Borbely of United Kingdom and HAS Pemba Tshering Sherpa on 19th May at 08:20 am

Kanta Devi of India and HAS Pasang Temba Sherpa on 21st May at 05:15 am
Love Raj Dharamshaktu of India and HAS Ki Dorjee Sherpa on 21st May at 06:00 am
Ramlal of India, Pasang Rita Sherpa and HAS Phurba Sherpa (Rolwaling) on 21st May at 06:00 am
Rodrigo Chadded Raineri of Brazil and HAS Sonam Tshering Sherpa on 21st May at 10:20 am
Arunima Sinha from India, HAS Nima Kancha Sherpa and HAS Pemba Tshering Sherpa on 21st May at 10:55 am
Douglas Scarborough from USA and HAS Phurba Sherpa and HAS Ngima Dorji Sherpa on 22nd May at 05:40 am

International Everest Expedition (Tibet Side) Spring 2013:

Asian Trekking’s International Everest Expedition member David Liaño Gonzalez summited on 19thMay at 4:35 am with Climbing Sirdar Mingma Sherpa. Similarly John Tsang of Hong Kong and Pasang Dawa Sherpa also summited on 19th May at 4:45 am.
Yoshiharu Nakamura of Japan and climbing Sherpa Gyaluk Sherpa reached the top of Mt. Everest on 20th May 2013 at 7:25 am.

International Mt. Shishapangma Expedition 2013:

Mr. Zoltan Benedek of Austria and Mr. Batmanlai Ulzli-Orshikh of Mongolia reached the summit of Mt. Shishapangma on 9th May at 11:00 am.

Cash For Trash” Program

Since 2008, Eco Everest Expedition has brought down more than 15,200 kilos of old garbage from Mt. Everest for proper disposal and more than 800 kilos of human waste produced by the expedition itself. Also five deceased bodies have been recovered and brought down from the mountain for a dignified burial and funeral.
As in previous years, this year Eco Everest Expedition continued its initiative of cleaning Mt. Everest under the “Cash for Trash” program. 800 kilos of garbage was brought down from the slopes of Everest including a rotor blade and landing gear of an Italian army helicopter that crashed at camp 2 in 1973 and 200 kilos of human waste produced by our expedition teams. The sponsor for this year’s “Cash for Trash” was Asian Trekking.

Remarkable Climbs Of This Year:

Mr. David Liaño Gonzalez, 33 years of age, living in Mexico became the first person to summit Mt. Everest from both sides in one climbing season. He summited Mt. Everest on 11th May 2013 at 08:05 am with Asian Trekking’s Eco Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebration Expedition 2013 as a Team Leader from the South Side and on 19th May 2013 at 04:35 am from the North Side as a member of our International Mt. Everest Expedition (Tibet Side) Spring 2013. The summit from the North Side was his fifth summit of Mt. Everest.

His achievement has also been recognized by Guinness World Record. He was given the Certificate of “First Person to Climb Both Sides of Mt. Everest in One Season” which was sent by Mr. Craig Glenday, Editor in Chief for Guinness World Records. Mr. Frits Vrijlandt, president of UIAA and I jointly handed over the Certificate to Mr. David Liaño on 30th May 2013 at Kathmandu.
Similarly Dr. Nima Namgyal Sherpa of Khumjung, Solukhumbu became the first Nepali Medical Doctor to summit Mt. Everest. Dr. Namgyal summited Mt. Everest on 19th May 2013 at 07:30 AM with Nawang Kalden Sherpa.

Mr. Love Raj Dharamshaktu of India and Ki Dorjee Sherpa summitted Mt. Everest on 21st May at 06:00 am. This is the 5th time summit of Mt. Everest for the Team 2 climbing leader of our Eco Everest Diamond Jubilee Celebration Exp. 2013. He broke his own previous record for the most summits on Mt. Everest for an Indian national.

Ms. Arunima Sinha from India also summited Mt. Everest on 21st May at 10:55 am with climbing sherpas Nima Kancha Sherpa and Pemba Tshering. With this achievement she became the first female amputee (with an artificial leg below her left knee) to summit Mt. Everest. Ms. Sinha was sponsored by TATA STEEL for this expedition and she was trained by Ms. Bachindri Pal, the first Indian woman Everest summiteer.

Some Important Events:

Mount Everest Diamond Jubilee And 6^th International Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) Day Celebration:

The government formed a diamond jubilee celebration committee to organize various programs from 26th to 29th May to commemorate the event. Different programmes were organized in Kathmandu as well as in Khumjung village development committee (VDC) in which Mt. Everest lies.
The program was jointly organized by the Nepal government, Nepal Tourism Board, Nepal Mountaineering Association and other organizations. Climbers from around the world were felicitated along with the distribution of the Mount Everest Diamond Jubilee Medals and certificates. The publication of the stamp depicting the importance of Mt. Everest as well as the special publication of NMA Nepal Parbat Mount Everest Diamond Jubilee souvenirs.
The summiteers felicitated included Apa Sherpa; world record holder for climbing Mt. Everest 21 times, Reinhold Messner; the first person to climb Everest without oxygen, Phurba Tashi Sherpa; the record 21-time summiteer, record of first person to summit Mt. Everest three times in one climbing season and holds the record for the most total ascents of eight thousanders, at the age of 30, Ang Rita Sherpa; who climbed Everest ten times without oxygen. Other notable names were Kami Sherpa; who climbed Everest three times within nine days, Arjun Vajpayee; the former youngest Everest summiteer from India, Frits Vrijlandt; president of the Union of International Alpinist Association (UIAA) and first person to summit Mt. Everest from Netherlands, Ms. Chhurim Sherpa; world record holder of first woman to summit Mt. Everest twice in one climbing season, Ms. Ngima Chhamji Sherpa; youngest female to summit Mt. Everest, Mr. Min Bahadur Serchan; oldest person to summit Mt. Everest, Mr. David Liano; world record holder of first person to summit Mt. Everest from both side, Nepal and Tibet side in one climbing season, Mr. Mingma Sherpa and Mr. Chhang Dawa Sherpa, all 14, 8000m peaks summiteers, Ms. Saili Basnet and her seven summit team members along with Maya Sherpa.
Besides positioning Nepal in the international tourism market the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations also allowed for generating awareness about climate change.
The main function of the celebration took place at Narayanhiti Palace Museum, where Khila Raj Regmi, Chairman of the Cabinet Ministers announced the Everest Declaration. Earlier, a cultural procession was taken out in the capital city Kathmandu as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Celebration Of Diamond Jubilee Of The First Ascent Of Mt. Everest (26^th& 29^th May 2013):

To mark the historical day when Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa of Nepal set foot on top of the world of Mt. Everest, a program to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the first ascent of Mt. Everest was organized in Khumjung. The function was organized at Hillary Park in Khumjung.
Speaking at the function in Khumjung, Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Shushil Ghimire, said that the government was committed to making tourism a sustainable industry.
A tree planting ceremony was also conducted at the function. Carliele Hillary, vice-chair of the Himalayan Trust and niece of the late Sir Edmund Hillary, planted a tree in the park in memory of her uncle. Government officials, the New Zealand ambassador and other diplomats were among those who attended the function.

Mount Everest Diamond Jubilee Conference on Mountaineering and Climate Change was organized at Khumjung School Conference which was attended by national and international dignitaries on 26th May. I had the privilege of giving a presentation on “Prospects of Mountain Tourism and Challenges of Conservation”.
(If you would like to know more about the presentation please visit this link. )
Similarly Frits Vrijlandt, President of UIAA (International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation) talked about the “Role of UIAA and Mt. Everest Climb”. Dr. Ganesh Raj Joshi, former secretary, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation presented on “Climate Change in the Himalayas”. Hillary Carlile gave a presentation on “Role of Himalayan Trust and Its Contribution to the Communities”. The other speakers included the Mr. Sushil Ghimire, Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Mr. Purna Chandra Bhattarai, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Mr. Ram Chandra Kandel, chief warden of Sagarmatha National Park, Sonam Gyalgen Sherpa, the chairman of Sagarmatha Buffer Zone, and Diwakar Rana, Nepal Tourism Board.

63^rd Mt. Annapurna Day Observed On 3^rd June 2013:

The 63rd Mt. Annapurna Day was celebrated on 3rd June 2013 to remark the first ascent on Mt. Annapurna by Mr. Maurice Herzog and Mr. Louis Lacenal in 1950. A function was jointly organized by NMA Annapurna Chapter and Pokhara based Tourism related Organizations. As a Chief Guest of the function I felicitated renowned mountaineer Mr. Phu Tharke Sherpa, member of the successful Annapurna Expedition of 1950. Mr. Mingma Sherpa and Chhang Dawa Sherpa were also felicitated at the function. The function was attended by various mountaineers, high government officials, travel trade entrepreneurs and educational institutions.

Finally, it is my pleasure to keep you all up to date as to our activities here in the Himalaya. If you have any questions please do let me know. I thank you for your support in the past and look forward to our cooperation in the future.
Ang Tshering Sherpa
Chairman
Asian Trekking

Upcoming Expeditions Of Asian Trekking:

Eco Everest Expedition Spring
International Mt. Everest Expedition
International Mt. Manaslu Expedition
International Mt. Amadablam Expedition
International Mt. Dhaulagiri Expedition

Upcoming Nepal Treks And Climbing Peaks Of Asian Trekking:

Island Peak (Imja Tse) – 6160m – Everest Region

Lobuche East Peak (6119m) – Everest Region

Kyajo Ri (6186m) – Everest Region

ABI Peak (6097m) – Everest Region

Nirekha Peak (6186m) – Everest Region

Chulu West (6419m) – Annapurna Region

Pisang Peak (6019m) – Annapurna Region

Naya Kanga (Ganja-La Chuli) – 5844 – Langtang Region

Upcoming Tibet Treks And Tours Of Asian Trekking: