The upsurge in popularity of Mount Everest and the numerous successful expeditions have spread the myth that mounting an expedition is no more the tough adventure that it used to be. However, very few people know that climbing the Everest is not a child's play, just that the unsuccessful tales don't get prominence in the mass media. The mass hysteria generated during the golden jubilee year of the first ascent of Everest is a striking example of the enormous challenge that the mountain still is.
This year 73 alpinists made it atop the Everest, which made people believe that ascending the Everest is easy.

It's however, not a big number when one takes into consideration the bitter reality that 130 among these adventurers, who spent a fortune, had to abandon their mission midway through the climb. Out of 201 members from 25 expedition teams that attempted the bid, the success rate is only 36 percent. However, the climbing success rate for Sherpas is reportedly better. Out of 163 successful climbs this season 90 were Sherpas.

According to the Mountaineering section of the Ministry of Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation, four teams consisting of 19 members abandoned their expedition. Even from among the 22 successful teams, 111 climbers could not make it to the top. The year, in a way, was not very bad as only two mountaineers - a Nepali and a Briton - lost their lives in the heights.
Altogether some 180 mountaineers have lost their lives while attempting to climb the Everest.
Till date 1300 people have been successful in knocking off the peak. The Everest ascent could have been easy, if the weather was more predictable, and the weather change wouldn't take place instantaneously. "All those who abandoned their trip have cited bad weather as the root cause of their failure," said an official with Mountaineering Division of the ministry.

The success rate also depends on the route they choose. The traditional Hillary-Tenzing route that the mountaineers followed during their first ascent in 29 May 1953 is considered easier. It is also because many teams following the route have fixed ropes, stairs and bridges in difficult places. This season, no one made it to the top from other than traditional Hillary-Tenzing route also known as South East Ridge.

The waiver of US$ 20,000 for a seven-member team attempting Everest from other routes than the traditional one also couldn't appease many expedition teams. One major reason behind such trend is the steep Alps and much danger associated on the routes, says Ang Tshering Sherpa, the President of Mountaineering Association of Nepal (NMA). "Not just that, the wind is also very strong in the other routes," he added.

OTHER NEWS

• Sagarmatha Award to Hillary: Nepal Association of Travel Agents (NATA) has presented Sagarmatha Award, Nepal's only international tourism award, to Sir Edmund Hillary for his valuable contribution in the field of tourism development. According to a press release issued here by the NATA, the award was given away to the mountaineering legend amidst a special function organised in the capital. The award was earlier presented to late Tony Hegan in 1999.
  
  
• Third country tourist arrivals plunge in May: Despite an arrival of a good number of foreigners during the last week of May to participate in the golden jubilee celebration of the first ascent of Mt Everest, the total number of tourists coming from the countries other than India slipped in May. According to the latest statistics, there was a nine per cent decline in the total tourist arrival from the countries other than India in May. As against the arrival of 8,819 tourists in May last year, only 8,042 tourists visited the Himalayan Kingdom during this May. The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has stated that the decline in third country tourists is a result of the global tourism downturn, especially followed by an increasing threat of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) effect.
  
  
• Summiteers stress measures to avoid accidents atop Everest: A member of 'Royal Navy Everest Expedition 2003' team, who scaled Mt. Everest this spring coinciding with the Golden Jubilee Celebrations, stressed the need to take necessary measures to avoid accidents. Marine warrant officer David Pearce, one of the two climbers of the 13-member team to reach on the summit on May 22, said: "With so many mountaineers up on the mountains, there's always a risk of some kind of disaster."
  
  
• Records on Everest rely on a photo and goodwill: Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa shaved off two hours last week to break the world record on the fastest climb of Everest from Base Camp. Several other climbers too have established records on Everest this season. While no one doubts that the old records did indeed tumble, many would be surprised to know that the verification of records, and also of successful Everest climbs for that matter, is done through an archaic and unscientific method. All it needs to establish that a climber actually set foot on the summit of Everest or established a new record is a photograph on the summit submitted to the Ministry for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.
  
  
• 'Capitalise mountains to promote people, tourism': Mountaineering professionals today stressed upon the need to capitalize on Nepali mountains for the promotion of Nepali culture and tourism and use them for the betterment of the people residing in the mountain areas. The mountaineers and noted personalities were speaking at a Mountain symposium organised by the Nepal Mountaineering Federation (NMF) hare to mark the fifty-year's celebration of the first ascent of Mount Everest.
  
  

By Hari Shrestha, Resident Representative in Kathmandu