Nepal celebrates 50th anniversary of Everest conquest

Mountaineers from around the world and Nepal’s royal family were gathering in the capital Kathmandu today to join Sir Edmund Hillary in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the conquest of Mount Everest.

Tenzing Norgay, the sherpa who was with Sir Edmund when they reached the summit of the world’s tallest mountain, died 17 years ago, but the New Zealand adventurer constantly mentioned his climbing partner throughout the week of parades, exhibitions and parties.

After their 15 minutes at the 29,035ft summit on May 29, 1953, neither man had any desire to return.

“Tenzing used to say, ‘We have done it. We have done it first. Why should we bother doing it again?’,” Sir Edmund, 83, recalled yesterday.

He said the anniversary meant little to him, only that 50 years had passed, but he was gratified and astonished at the celebrations that began in May in India and will extend into June in the US.

On the eve of the anniversary, he told a news conference: “I’m not very happy about the future of Mount Everest.

“At the base camp, there are 1,000 people there, with some 500 tents, and a booze place for drinks and all the other comforts. Just sitting around in a big base camp, knocking back cans of beer, I don’t particularly regard as mountaineering.”

Both Sir Edmund and Jamling Norgay – the son of Tenzing and an Everest summiteer in his own right – have objected to what they call commercialised mountaineering, which allows people with little experience to pay sherpas to get them up the mountain.

Speaking on Nepal TV yesterday, Jamling said he objected to the drive to be the first to climb the mountain in different ways, or be the oldest or youngest.

“It’s no longer a passion. It’s just a sport,” he said.

Recalling how he and Tenzing carved steps into sheer ice walls where no man had been before, Sir Edmund criticised modern-day climbers who ascend over crevasses and ridges prepared for them by sherpas.

“We didn’t have 60 aluminium ladders (and) thousands of metres of fixed rope,” he said. “We had to do it ourselves.”

Since 1953, some 1,300 people have climbed Everest, from the Nepal or Tibetan side, and at least 175 have died in the attempt.

Despite modern conveniences such as an Internet cafe at base camp, the mountain remains dangerous.

Two people were killed yesterday when a private helicopter crashed as it flew to the base camp to pick up climbers.

Nepal’s King Gyanendra and Queen Komal planned to host a tea party honouring Sir Edmund, one in a string of feasts throughout the day

But after tea, veteran mountaineer said he would skip the last banquet to have dinner with members of the sherpa community, whom he has continued to visit and aid during the last half century.

Although Nepal’s cities are more bustling, and many sherpas are now prosperous, Sir Edmund said some things had not changed, such as sherpas laughing around a night-time camp fire.