Remember what mountaineering luminaries who converged on Nepal for the golden jubilee of the triumph on Everest exactly a year ago? Here's a brief flashback of the concerns shown by two legendary climbers - New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary, who needs no introduction, and Reinhold Messner, who has conquered all 8,000-meter-plus peaks on earth: "There are more than 1,000 people setting up 500 tents at the Base Camp and knocking down beer before making their assault on the mountain.

That simply belittles the charm of mountaineering." Sir Edmund Hillary said at a function in the capital on May 28. Messner, also a European parliamentarian, echoed similar concern at another event on May 27 when he said, "Everest is full of climbers, and hundreds are lining up. It's not a healthy sign. There's no fun in mountaineering... There must be a license restriction for climbers. "Saturday is the 51st anniversary of the first ascent of Mt Everest by Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, and the first anniversary of the glittering golden jubilee celebrations observed last year. But legendary "Everesteers" expressed their deep concern over the commercialization of Everest.

One year on, the mountaineering community and the officialdom here are more concerned about the thinning crowd on Everest and not on what Hillary and Messner suggested. While the community seems to have taken the luminaries' concerns seriously, it is more worried about the competition in the neighborhood. The slashing of mountaineering royalties by the governments of neighboring countries has also dealt a big blow to Nepal's last hope - mountain tourism - in these most difficult of times.
But introducing license restrictions for mountaineers and controlling the crowding of Everest might divert the traffic to neighboring Tibet, India and Pakistan, which charge much lower royalties. So the government is apparently undecided on the issue. "If we restrict licensing, then climbers might choose other destinations," Shankar Pande, chief of the mountaineering division, told the Post on Friday. Consider this: only 13 expedition teams - down from nearly two dozen last year - climbed from the Nepali side of Everest this season whereas there were 23 teams from the Tibetan side.
More mountaineers have diverted to India and Pakistan. Nepal's South Asian neighbor, Pakistan, is currently observing the golden jubilee of the first feat on K-2, the second highest mountain, and Nanga Parbat.Says Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), in the years to come, "the crowd could get thinner and mountaineers could be diverted to neighboring countries.

So the government should take steps to reduce mountaineering royalties." Sherpa, who is also the managing director of Asian Trekking, further argues that Nepal, like Pakistan, could have gone for an international media blitzkrieg because 2004, coincidentally, is also the golden jubilee of the first ascent of the 8,202-meter-high Chhogyu peak also in the Khumbu region. "Next year, it is the golden jubilee of Makalu and Kanchenjunga," he said. "What's the government doing to attract climbers to these peaks? he asked. "Absolutely nothing, and mountaineers are heading towards Tibet and India and Pakistan."His trekking firm, for instance, handled three expedition teams heading for Everest from the Nepalese side and eight teams heading for the peak from the Tibetan side. On the Nepali side, 166 climbers headed for Everest this year, and all except one - American Nils Antenaza who died - made it to the top.

OTHER NEWS

• World tour bicyclist found dead: Bicyclist Laxman Sapkota, embarking on a world tour carrying messages of peace and fraternity, died here Thursday. He was 56. Sapkota had left Itahari Wednesday on a bicycle with the national flag and was found dead near a bus stand in Birtamod Thursday evening. Spending Wednesday night at Chautari hotel, he slept through the next day in the open. His body was found face down under a culvert at around 6 p.m. A resident of Morang Tankesinwari-1, Sapkota had already visited 29 countries traversing more than 76,000 km on bicycle, his papers revealed.
  
  
• 'Kathmanduites drinking highly contaminated water': The water quality assessment of 54 different sites in the Capital revealed that 57 percent of the water samples are contaminated with fecal coliforms - indicator bacteria for fecal contamination in water. The assessment was conducted out by Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO).
  
  
• More airlines likely to fly to Nepal: Two more international airlines - Philippines Airlines and Thailand-based Phuket Air - have expressed their interest to operate regular flights to Kathmandu. According to sources, Philippines Airlines has asked the government for fifth freedom rights as per which it can operate flights to other destinations from Nepal also. "Philippines Airlines has proposed to operate flights from Manila to Kathmandu via Thailand, and from Kathmandu to Manila via Delhi," the sources said Similarly Phuket Air, a private Thai airline is planning to operate regular flights in the Bangkok-Kathmandu sector.
  
  
  

By Hari Shrestha, Resident Representative in Kathmandu