The challenge and beauty of the world's tallest summit Mount Everest has not ceased despite hordes of records made and over 1,300 successful ascents. An American granny, a British father-son duo, and a diabetic patient are all set to challenge the 8,848 metre tall peak this spring. The successful ascents of the peak by the people challenged in various ways - blind, disabled, elderly and others - have further enhanced the allure of this mighty peak. A significant number of aspiring summiteers are awaiting the spring season this year to scale Everest, says Ang Tshiring Sherpa, president of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA).

"It has become a challenge in itself to find an area to set record on Everest," he quipped. Nancy Norris, 60, grandmother of four from Flint, Michigan, is planning to become the oldest American woman summiteer. Norris, an aerobics instructor and an athlete, has successfully climbed over 15 peaks in four different continents, and has attempted several 8,000-metre-plus Nepali peaks, including 8,201-metre Cho-Oyu. Charles Burr, 50, and his son, Oliver Burr, 22, are hoping to become Britain's first father-son duo to climb Everest together.

Sadly they won't be the first such pair. Last May, Yuichiro Miura, 70 and his son, Gota Miura, 33, from Japan became the first father-son duo atop the highest mountain. Will Cross, 36, a school teacher from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have been diabetic since he was nine. Despite his physical problem, Everest's magic attracted him. He will take 4,000 calories in a specially prepared diet - rich in proteins and carbohydrates - and will be closely monitoring and managing his blood sugar level using insulin. Cross successfully climbed the 16,067 ft high Mount Vinson, the highest mountain in Antarctica. The success aspired him to try Mt Everest, and Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa.

However, this season is not going to attract all the unique climbers. In 1998 Tom Whittaker, an American, scaled Everest with an artificial leg to become first disabled person, and in 2001 another American, Erik Weihenmayer, became the first blind summiteer on the summit. Last year, marking the golden jubilee of man's first ascent on Everest, 25 teams headed to Everest and 163 people reached the top, setting about half a dozen new records. A 15-year-old Nepali girl, Ming Kipa Sherpa, became the youngest summiteer, and a 70-year-old Japanese Yuichiro Miura became the oldest man atop Everest last season.

Similarly, Apa Sherpa of Solukhumbu made it to Everest for the record 13th time and another Sherpa, Lakpa Gelu scaled Everest in record time of 10 hours. A Nepali Sherpa family of three also reached the summit. "With the galore of records, the record-breaking attempts will hardly be new in mountaineering, yet its beauty will always attract the challenge seekers," Aang Tshiring Sherpa said. Come the next season more than a dozen teams have planned for the Everest summit, including a Bangladeshi team of six.

OTHER NEWS

• Rescue Centre to Serve as Lifeline in Death Valley: Gokyo valley, dubbed 'Death Valley,' that claims lives on an average of three trekkers every year will soon have a rescue centre. Community Action Nepal (CAN), a INGO working for the welfare of the Nepali porters, is to construct a porter rescue shelter at Machermo of the Gokyo Valley in Solukhumbu district. Dough Scott, Founder Director of CAN told The Kathmandu Post that the motive behind the construction of shelter is to save the lives of porters and trekkers, who often face life-threatening illness in the area due to extremely difficult terrain and adverse weather conditions.
  
  
• TAAN asks trekking permit again: Stating that the revocation of trekking permit system couple of years back encouraged illegal trekking operators, the Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN) has asked the government to re-introduce the permit system. Organising a press conference recently, the association officials unlike in the past when the department of immigration used to issue trekking permits, the government should authorised TAAN to issue the trekking permit.
  
  
• Concerns over plastic litter in the Valley: Anything thrown haphazardly is litter. While food and paper litter causes pollution in the process of decomposition, plastic litter is non bio- degradable and so it is less likely to pollute the environment until the plastic is burnt by an inefficient method. Moreover, if plastic material is burnt in full combustion, its smoke, the only harmful emission for respiratory system could be reduced dramatically", contends Dr Ramesh Man Singh, Chief Technical Officer at the Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (RONAST).
  
  
• Smuggled Nepali timber helps build Tibetan houses: There are no forests as far as 100 kilometres on either side of the Tibetan Plateau. Therefore, one is surprised to find timber used extensively on the doors of the mud-built houses here. In fact, these houses offer clear evidences of the rampant deforestation that is taking place in Nepal's Himalayan range. Houses in entire settlements in Tibet use wood smuggled from Nepal across the border. The timber is smuggled by Nepalis living in the Himalayan region. There are Tibetan accomplices helping in the smuggling. According to a Nepali resident of Taklakot Thanka, the timber comes from Muchuban of Humla, another forest in Bajhang and the Tinkar community forest of Darchula. The wood is smuggled via Udailek and Lipu Bhanjyang. The absence of Nepali government authorities in the borders between the western Himalayan districts and Tibet has encouraged smuggling.
  
  
• To construct regional international airports: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Survendranath Sukla recently said that the government has begun policy level procedural to construct regional international airports at Pokhara and Bhairahawa under the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) scheme. He was presenting a briefing over the several activities of the ministry to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Saha Dev amidst a programme organised at the premises of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).
  
  
• Media supportive to tourism industry: Senior journalists, tourism entrepreneurs and tourism experts, gathered in an interaction workshop here recently, have stressed upon the need of credible and timely disseminating of information to the press. "Media has been much supportive to the tourism industry until now," Kanak Mani Dixit, a senior journalist with the Himal Association said adding that the proper outflow of reliable information can help the nation in the long run. Nepal should now focus on high-cost and low-volume tourists and the Indian market for the development of tourism industry, he said.
  
  
• Street festival to mark new year in Pokhara: Street festival is to be organised at the lakeside of Phewatal, which is the main attraction of Pokhara, with the objective of developing the valley as a main destination of the tourists to celebrate the Christmas and new year every year. It is believed that the festival will promote internal and external tourism further thereby increasing the Nepali arts, culture, and handicrafts trade as well. About two hundred thousand domestic and foreign tourists are expected to visit Pokhara during the festival to be hosted by Restaurant and Bar Association of Pokhara from December 28 to January 3, says association.
  
  
  

By Hari Shrestha, Resident Representative in Kathmandu