Nepal News
Scenes From Our Upcoming Everest Productions.
Over the coming weeks we are editing and publishing a series of videos about trekking in the Everest region.
These are some of the scenes you can expect to see as we make the journey to Everest Base Camp.
Peak of Mt Everest rising from behind the Nuptse Wall.
Himalayan Tahr spotted just past Namche Bazaar.
View of Mountains and valley over Dingboche.
A scene from Namche Bazaar.
Ama Dablam view from the Tengboche Monastery.
The final trekking town before Base Camp. Gorakshep.
There are of course many more amazing scenes to see. We just wanted to give you a small teaser before we publish the guides in the weeks to come.
Nepal.TV
More Tourists for Nepal
According to the World Bank South Asia Economic Update 2010, most of those who travel to Nepal come from the East Asian region, making up over 25 percent of the total tourist arrivals in the Republic.
The Nepal Tourism Board have also reported that the number of tourists coming in from China, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand has been steadily growing in the past few years. There has been a drastic increase in the number of visitors from China as compared to last year, with tourist arrivals growing at the rate of almost 200 percent.
The growth in tourist traffic has caught the attention of stakeholders who are seeking key business interests in the region. The number of flights to the country has also increased, with China Eastern Airlines as the newest carrier to offer Nepal flights.
Most analysts assert that tourism growth from the East Asian region is largely due to rising income levels, more airline options, and the renown of Nepal as the sacred birthplace of the Buddha.
To usher in Nepal Tourism Year 2011, the Republic remains optimistic, looking forward to around 100,000 tourists from China along with an expected 20 percent growth in tourist traffic from neighbouring Asian countries.
Everest Updates
13-year-old Jordan Romero is a few steps closer from achieving his goal of being the youngest climber to reach the peak of Everest. With the help of his support team, composed of his father and three Sherpa guides, Romero was able to scale Camp 1 and journey onward towards Camp 2, which is set at 24, 750 meters above sea level. The summit of Mount Everest is located 29, 035 meters above sea level, and Romero along with his team may have to pass a couple more Camps to reach the peak.
The teenage boy is no novice when it comes to scaling the world’s highest peaks. Romero claims he was inspired to climb mountains after he saw a painting of the world’s seven highest summits displayed on his school’s hallway. He then went on to conquer the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa at the age of 10. Romero updates regularly in about his adventures on his online journal. He is very optimistic about his current expedition as he writes on his blog, “I am on the way towards achieving the biggest goal of my life—to stand on top of the world.”
Should he be successful to reach the summit, Romero will become the youngest climber ever to scale Mount Everest, a record currently held by Temba Tsheri of Nepal, who made the ascent at the age of 16.
Meanwhile, veteran climber Apa Sherpa is also set to make his 20th summit of Mount Everest this May. The 50-year-old climber is poised to make his historic ascent and break yet another record. Sherpa is known to have broken several of his own records since his 10th summit in 1999. Currently based in Utah, Apa Sherpa is set to continue the challenging ascent from Camp 4 and reach the peak in the next 4 days.
The month of May proves to be the most favourable for mountain climbers wishing to conquer the peak of Everest, as weather forecasts show sunny skies and winds easing up to 37 mph (60 kph). This season, thousands of travellers trek to Nepal’s mountain trails for hiking and climbing expeditions.
Hillary’s Ashes over Mount Everest
Apa, one of the current record-breaking Nepali Sherpas, is all set to ascend the world’s highest mountain to deposit the remaining ashes of Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the world’s most celebrated mountaineers who was known the world over as the first man to reach the peak of Mount Everest in 1953. Hillary passed away in New Zealand in 2008, with some of his ashes scattered by his family in his home country.
The 49-year-old Apa began climbing the intimidating peak, rising over 8,000 meters above sea level, in 1989 and has been reaching the summit every year since. Growing up as a Sherpa along the foot of Everest, he started his career as a mountain guide at the age of 12. Today, his knowledge of the region is unrivalled as he holds the record for the most number of successful summits in the Everest region. Sir Edmund Hillary was also accompanied by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay during his celebrated ascent to Mount Everest.
This year marks Apa’s 20th climb to the peak, and he has revealed other plans apart from scattering the ashes of the famed climber on top of the mountain. “I also intend to clean up the summit and help promote Nepal’s tourism industry,” the Sherpa shares.
With the help of his team consisting of 17 other Sherpas along with 12 Western mountaineers, Apa plans to collect an estimated 7,000 kilos worth of garbage and other environmental waste that has since accumulated at the Himalayan summit. The US-based Sherpa also plans to contribute to the promotion Nepal as a tourism destination, as the country breaks away from political instability.
The record-breaking ascent is planned in May, which is considered the preferred time for expeditions before the season turns too dangerous for mountain climbing. Sir Edmund Hillary reached the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953, as part of the 9th British expedition to the said peak. The famed climber has devoted much of his life to undertaking many developments in the remote area of Nepal and the welfare of the Sherpas through his foundation, the Himalayan Trust.
Female Climbers Race for World Record
Oh Yun Sun from South Korea and Edurne Pasaban from Spain are only two mountaineers among several other female climbers who are vying to make the ascent to the summit beyond 8,000 meters.
Oh Yun Sun, 43, is determined to set the world record. “I intend to make not only my own country proud, but the rest of Asia as well,” the mountaineer declared in a recent interview during her arrival in Kathmandu for the said expedition. Miss Oh is currently the leading contender for the world record, having scaled 13 out of the 14 highest peaks in the Himalayas.
On the other hand, her main competitor from Spain, Pasaban, is left to scale two mountain peaks—Annapurna and Shishapangma in Tibet—which she is looking forward to complete during the April-May monsoon season.
The 10th-highest summit in the world, Annapurna stands a little over 8,000 meters above sea level. Being an avalanche-prone area, the summit is considered as one of the world’s most dangerous peaks, claiming a fatality rate of 40% among its climbers, proving it to be a much more hazardous area than Mount Everest.
Italy’s Reinhold Messner holds the current record of being the first person to scale the 14 highest mountains in 1986, but this record has yet to be equalled by a female climber.
Nepal’s “Save the Tiger” Campaign Launched
With its slogan “Double or Nothing: Save the wild tigers and save so much more!”, the campaign seeks to obtain funds to eradicate the illegal trade of tigers all over the globe and protect their natural habitat.
According to WWF Nepal, the decreasing number of tigers in the wild should be a matter of great concern. “There are only a little more than 3,000 tigers roaming the world, and their numbers will continue to fall if the threats continue,” the organization’s officials said.
The 2010 Year of the Tiger campaign kicked off with a student rallies throughout various districts around Nepal. This is the first of a series of events that seek to increase awareness on the current condition of tigers worldwide and ways toward conservation of the species. With initiatives done in cooperation with WWF’s partners in the country, the campaign will also feature art competitions that seek to utilize student talents nationwide.
World Wildlife Fund Nepal has expressed gratitude over the support of the local government for the campaign. “We are thankful for the commitment of the Nepal Government in helping us with this cause, with the establishment of the National Tigeer Conservation Authority and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau,” according to WWF Country Manager Anil Manandhar in an official statement.
Nepal to Promote Gay Tourism
The country’s government has given the thumbs up for this new tourism campaign with the move to legalize same-sex marriages by May this year. As part of its new initiative towards promoting homosexual tourism, Nepal is getting ready to be the official venue gay weddings right in the heart of its primary tourist attraction, Mount Everest. Dubbed as the “Pink Mountain”, a wide array of luxury wedding and honeymoon packages will be made available for same-sex couples who wish to tie the knot in one of the world’s most unforgettable locations.
“Nepal wishes to receive up to a million visitors this year, and we believe that the economy can benefit further by welcoming gay and lesbian tourists,” Sunil Babu Pant said in a recent interview. Pant is a known leader of Nepal’s homosexual rights movements and is currently supervising a travel agency that seeks to promote Nepal as a prime holiday destination for the gay market.
Pant further elaborated on the move to promote Nepal as the newest gay tourism destination with the country’s participation in the International Conference on Gay and Lesbian Tourism held in Boston last October.
The gay wedding packages offer elephant processions, along with a choice of celebrating the ceremony in an Everest base camp or in the remote Tibetan highlands—all for a truly memorable experience deep in the heart of the Himalayas.
More Pizza and Planes in Nepal
More airlines have obtained licensed air links to Nepal after receiving approval from the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA). Recently the Ministry has allowed Fly Dubai to operate flights from Dubai to Kathmandu seven times a week. Other airlines who have obtained additional licenses included Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, and Dragon Air.
According to MoTCA secretary Nagendra Prasad Ghimire, the increase in international flights is a result of economic growth among Nepal’s neighboring countries which has contributed to the growth of tourism sector.
This growth has also led to the introduction of international food chains into the country, as Devyani International announced the opening of Pizza Hut and KFC Nepal. Devyani teams up with YUM Brands, the global firm handling five of the world’s major food franchises and operating 35,000 outlets across 105 countries, to introduce new dining concepts to Nepali consumers. Apart from this, the franchisers believe that Nepal is a growing market and the new fastfood outlets also create new jobs for the locals.
The Nepal Tourism Board reports that the number of tourists visiting the country has steadily increased by 10.8% compared to last year's arrivals, proof that the sector is gaining viability.
Renowned Mountaineer Dies in Nepal
One of the world’s most celebrated climbers has met his untimely demise as he went about his last adventure.
Slovenian Thomasz Humar, considered by his contemporaries as the most outstanding climber of his generation, was found dead in the Himalayas after his body was spotted from the air by a three-man rescue team.
Humar, 40, had attempted to climb Langtang Lirung, one of Nepal’s most challenging peaks at 3,710ft (7,227m). According to his friend and fellow Slovenian mountaineer Viki Groselj, Jumar has last made contact with his base camp last Monday to inform them that he has broken his leg. The camp was able to reach Humar via a satellite phone call the next day, but the climber sounded very weak, saying, “This is my last.” That was the final contact the base was able to make with him.
Four Sherpa guides had flown to Langtang Lirung base camp in the first phase of rescue operations, heavy snowfall on Wednesday and Thursday had forced the climbers to postpone the operation. Humar’s body was finally discovered after an aerial search, where the rescuers had found him at a lower altitude than expected. “He (Humar) probably attempted to climb down the peak when rescue didn’t arrive yet,” according to Gerold Biner, flight operations manager for the Swiss-based rescue helicopter service Air Zermatt.
Humar, touted as the most celebrated climber of his day, was no stranger to danger with attempts to conquer the Himalayas. In 2005, he got trapped on the way to the peak of Nanga Parbat at about 6,000m during another solo climb while attempting to discover a new route. After running out of supplies and confronting several avalanches Humar was rescued by Pakistani army helicopter pilots, who were later given Slovenia's highest award for bravery.
Several tributes were made to Humar, commending him for his sense of adventure and his love for Nepal’s mountains. According to Zimba Zangbu Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Humar’s latest feat was extraordinary. "The mountain that Humar was climbing, Langtang Lirung, is technically tough and not everyone dares to climb it. We are very sorry to have lost such a world-renowned climber,” he said.
Humar first got known in the mountaineering world in 1999 as he made his solo ascent of the south face of Dhaulagiri, the world's seventh-highest mountain, located in the Himalayas. He became even more famous as he attempted to scale peaks using routes that many considered almost suicidal. Humar made a total of 1,500 ascents in total, 70 of these routes have not been previously attempted, throughout his whole celebrated career as a mountaineer.
Nepal Hosts Tiger Workshop
KATHMANDU, NEPAL—Nepal is set to host The Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop 2009, a four-day conference campaigning for worldwide cooperation of saving wild tigers.
The workshop brings together more than 200 participants from all over the world, among them conservationists, animal rights activists, scientists, and policy makers, in a bid to call action for the creation of more effective policies for the protection and preservation of tigers. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal will be inaugurating the conference with the theme, Saving tigers is our test; if we pass, we get to keep the planet.
A series of discussions will be held throughout the workshop on preventing illegal tiger trade, along with landscape management and other pertinent concerns of tiger-rangee countries.
Several officials have also voiced their support of the environmental initiative, among them Deepak Bohara, Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation, who was quoted as saying, "The workshop would introduce new ideas to start the process of creating a platform for sustained worldwide cooperation to save wild tigers.” Bohora also confirmed that the workshop will be followed by an Asian Ministerial Conference to be held in Thailand in January 2010.
There has been increased concern regarding the protection of tigers, according to Gopal Prasad Upadhyaya, General Director of the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), in a recent interview. “This workshop will serve as a great opportunity for sharing global experiences and align strategies of the tiger-range countries,” he added.
The Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop 2009 is made possible with the cooperation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Secretariat, Global Tiger Forum, Global Tiger Initiative, the World Bank, Save the Tiger Fund, National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Nepal.