After Everest record, Indian woman eyes unclimbed peaks

KATHMANDU: Nepal's mountaineering community was celebrating the first conquest of Mount Everest 64 years ago yesterday, as well as this year's climbing season during which hundreds scaled the world's highest peak. A ceremony yesterday marking the first successful Everest climb by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay in 1953 also honored several others who have contributed to the climbing industry, said Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

The industry suffered back-to-back tragedies in 2014 and 2015, when deadly avalanches forced the mountain's early closure. This year's season, which began in March and ends tomorrow, saw hundreds of climbers reach the top of the 8,850-m peak despite severe weather conditions. Last year was also considered a successful season, during which hundreds reached the top but five climbers died.

Six climbers died in the attempt this season, and all but that of American doctor Roland Yearwood had been recovered by Sunday. The three Sherpa guides who attempted to retrieve Yearwood's body said the location was too dangerous to reach, according to Murari Sharma of Everest Parivar Expedition agency. On Sunday, rescuers brought down from Everest the bodies of an Indian climber who died this year and two Indians who died last year.

Meanwhile, a 38-year-old Indian climber who made the fastest double ascent of Mount Everest and became the first woman to reach the highest point on earth twice in five days, says she will now turn her attention to smaller unclimbed peaks. Anshu Jamsenpa, from India's mountainous northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, climbed Everest by its Southeast Ridge route on May 16. She repeated the feat on May 21, beating a record set by a Nepali woman, Chhurim Sherpa, who made the dual climb in seven days in 2011. Both ascents are expected to be certified by the Nepali government this week, a tourism department official said.

Anshu, who like many people in the Indian state is known by her first name, also climbed the 8,850 m summit twice in 10 days in 2011. She climbed it again in 2013. A motivational speaker and trainer in mountaineering, Anshu said she felt an emotional attachment to Everest. "When I go high up I rediscover myself and can realize the strength of my mind," she told Reuters in Kathmandu over the weekend after returning from the mountain.

Now she has a new goal - to summit Kangto, the highest peak in Arunachal Pradesh, which is 7,042 m tall and has never been climbed, and other unclimbed peaks. She said people had been telling her to take on the so-called seven summits, the highest peaks on the seven continents. "But before that I want to climb other virgin peaks in the Himalayas," she said. The mother of two began her expedition in April with a blessing from the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who gave her a hug. "That long hug had a magic," she said. "I could not tell him anything. I became speechless." - Agencies