5 women scale Everest together.
Razen Manandhar
Kathmandu, May 22[2008]:
For the first time in Nepal’s mountaineering history, five Nepali women scaled Mt Everest together. The five women are members of the 10-member First Inclusive Women Sagarmatha Expedition 2008, which comprises members from diverse ethnicities.
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said Susmita Maskey, Maya Gurung, Nwang Phuti Sherpa, Pemba Diki Sherpa and Poojan Acharya scaled the world’s highest peak at 8.30 am today.
“This is the first time we have so many Nepali women on top of Everest on the same day. Among them, a Brahmin woman (Poojan Acharya) scaled the Everest for the first time. They have indeed made history,” said Ramesh KC, an officer at the ministry.
Before their departure, the members had said their main objective was to draw the attention of the world to gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Five High Altitude Workers of the team — Pemba Dorje Sherpa, Kaji Sherpa, Phurba Tenzing Sherpa, Ang Gelu Sherpa and Karma Gyelije Sherpa — also scaled the peak. The team had set out to the Everest base camp on April 14.
The government had waived royalties amounting to $1 lakh for the team and also provided assistance of Rs 1 million.
Also today, 75 persons from seven expeditions scaled the peak. They are: Five-member team of David C Morton (USA), seven-member team of David Allen Hahn (USA), three-member team of Gu Hyung Jun (Korea), 18-member team of Ashok Abbay (India), eight-member team of James S Mc-Guinness (New Zealand), 12-member team of Vididnan Rojanapnich (Thailand), 22-me-mber team of Atul Karwar and Shridhar Pokhariyal (India).
Rescue efforts on
Kathmandu: Nepali and international mountaineers are making efforts to rescue a Spanish clim-ber from the base camp of Mt Annapurna I. The cli-mber is said to be in a critical condition. “We are making arrangements to rescue Inaki Ocho, who has been reportedly stra-nded at an altitude of 7400 m,” Nima Nuru Sherpa, managing director of the Cho-Yu Trekking Pvt Ltd, said.
[KATHMANDU, MAY 23, 2008, Jestha 10, 2065]
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