Herzog's ice axe presented to Int'l Mountain Museum

By Phadindra Adhikari,Lekhnath, June 7: Mathias Herzog, the son of Maurice Herzog, the first person to summit Mountain Annapurna, handed over his father’s ice axe to the International Mountain Museum, Pokhara, on Thursday, adding a new attraction to the museum.

The ice axe, brought from the Olympic Museum in Switzerland, will be kept on display in Pokhara for one year. According to Mathias, the museum, which offers a direct view of Annapurna from its windows, is the most suitable location to exhibit the historic tool.

Mathias, along with his family, visited Nepal to participate in the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the first ascent of Annapurna. He joined Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Badri Prasad Pandey to unveil the Nepali edition cover of Maurice Herzog’s famous book Annapurna.

To mark the jubilee year, the museum also unveiled statues of Maurice Herzog, Ang Tharkay Sherpa and Walung Sonam Sherpa in its courtyard. Ang Tharkay was the first Nepali to summit Mt. Annapurna and Walung Sonam led the Sherpa team in Herzog’s expedition.

The museum also screened audio and video clips related to Herzog’s Annapurna ascent. A photo exhibition on the historic climb was also inaugurated on Thursday. Executive Director of the Museum, Nirmala Kumari Neupane, said the photos and videos will be kept permanently in the museum for public viewing.

Herzog’s book 'Annapurna' recounts the hardships and triumphs of the expedition. Already translated into 20 languages,  over 10 million copies of the book have been sold worldwide.

In the programme, Minister Pandey said Nepal is globally known for Buddha, the Vedas and the Himalayas. Referring to the first ascent of Annapurna as a milestone in mountaineering, he warned of the high cost the world may face due to climate change.

“Machhapuchhre is starting to look like Kala Patthar. What the mountains are experiencing now, the entire planet will have to endure,” he said. He also mentioned plans to develop a botanical garden at the museum in collaboration with the provincial government, aiming to turn the museum into a model destination for tourism capital Pokhara.

Gandaki Province’s Minister for Forests and Environment, Bhesh Bahadur Paudel, announced new programmes to promote mountain climbing in the region. He said that the provincial government will begin constructing the botanical garden from the upcoming fiscal year. “We will build it as a world-class tourist attraction. Construction starts this year,” he said.

French Ambassador to Nepal, Virginie Corteval, highlighted the first ascent of Annapurna as a historic milestone. Others who spoke at the event included Bikas Gurung, President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (Gandaki), Tara Nath Pahari, Chairperson of the Pokhara Tourism Council, mountaineer Purnima Shrestha and Mingma G. Sherpa, who has summited all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks.

President of the Association Nima Nuru Sherpa shared plans to build a Maurice Herzog Wall and organise a mountaineering competition every year on June 3. “We are trying to make this a significant and exemplary destination. This is only possible with the support of all levels of government and concerned stakeholders,” he said.

The museum, visited annually by more than 200,000 tourists from about 100 countries, is preparing to digitise its collections. With the support of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency), the Nepal Mountaineering Association plans to digitise the museum's content.