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Team to clear Everest ‘Death Zone’
KATHMANDU, APR 18 -
A 31-member Sherpa Everest expedition team is heading for Mt. Everest with a mission to clear over 2,000 kg of garbage from the “Death Zone” located at above 8,000 m elevation.
The expedition aims to bring back the bodies of climbers that have been buried on Everest for a long time.
“Since the official opening of Everest to expeditions in 1952, more than 300 people have lost their lives on the mountain,”
said Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
Namgyal Sherpa, the leader of the clean-up team, said that the task would not be easy. He added that the expedition would be an extreme and challenging one.
The team plans to bring back five corpses and garbage left by mountaineers from the Death Zone.
The dead bodies slated for removal include that of Gianni Goltz, a Swiss mountaineer and a member of the Kari Kobler commercial expedition who died on Everest in 2008, and that of Scott Tischer, an American mountaineer who died in the 1996 Everest disaster on May 11.
“However, we are yet to receive confirmation from Tischer’s family to bring back the dead body,” said Chakra Karki, coordinator of Our Extreme Expedition 2010.
The expedition, which is being conducted under the sponsorship of Nepali business organisations, has been termed the first of its kind in mountaineering history.
The mission, named Our Extreme Expedition 2010, has been estimated to cost Rs. 8 million. Nepal Investment Bank has provided Rs. 2.5 million, the Golchha Organisation has contributed Rs. 2 million and the rest is being provided by different organisations.
“We are supporting the project for a noble cause as part of our corporate social responsibility,” said Prithvi Bahadur Pande, chairman of Nepal Investment Bank. He said that the project was laudable and needed to get global recognition.
Vice chairman of the Golchha Organisation Diwakar Golchha said, “Since the tourism industry plays a vital role in the country’s economy, such initiatives will spread a good message to the people involved in the sector.”
Posted on: 2010-04-19 08:28
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