Platinum Jubilee of Everest ascent marked

Kathmandu, May 30: On May 29, 1953, Nepal’s Tenzing Norgay and New Zealand’s Edmund Hillary made history by becoming the first two persons to set foot on the top of Mount Everest. The world united in celebration as before them, no member of the human species had made such a statement of triumph, had conquered the tallest mountain in the world.

Since then, over 6,000 people have successfully ascended the peak that, only a century ago, no one had. But its lore and lure remain as high as ever which is perhaps why Everest still continues to record ‘firsts’, even 70 years after the first ascent.

On May 19, ex-British Gurkha soldier Hari Budha Magar became the first ever double above-the-knee amputee to stand atop Everest. Mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa became the first person to scale Everest, known in Nepal as Sagarmatha, 28 times on May 23. This is the most of any person. 

Similarly, May 24 saw 17-year-old Nima Rinji Sherpa become the youngest person to accomplish the ‘double header’, which means he climbed Mount Everest and Mount Lhotse within hours of each other. Nima summited Everest at 2.30 am and Lhotse at 11.50 am, in a span of less than 10 hours.

This year also had the largest number of people receive permits to scale the highest peak. The Department of Tourism issued permits to 478 individuals from 47 teams to make an attempt on the mountain. Norgay and Hillary’s first climb though holds a special place in history which is why May 29 has been commemorated for the past 15 years as the International Sagarmatha Day. This year, the day fell on Monday and was extra special as it also marked the platinum jubilee of the maiden ascent. Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) hosted different programmes in collaboration with the federal Ministry for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and other tourism-related organisations to celebrate the occasion. 

In the morning, a rally was organised from Thamel to the Nepal Tourism Board, Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu. The rally converged into an assembly at the Board where over 100 Nepali and foreign summiteers were provided with a special badge. Of those recognised were Kami Rita and Sanu Sherpa (the first person to successfully climb all 14 mountains of the world over 8000 metres in height twice). Sanu was also awarded with the Sagarmatha National Award.

Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sushila Sirpali Thakuri presented the climbers with the badges. Thakuri also feted members of the team who fixed the ropes on the climbing route on Everest this year and recognised the top seven trekking agencies who brought the most climbers to the mountain in 2022, NMA informed in a press release issued on Monday.