Nepal celebrates Everest conquest anniv, honours record holder

Nepal today celebrated the first conquest of Mount Everest 64 years ago and honoured a 44- year-old Nepalese mountaineer who broke her own world record for the most number of Everest summits by a woman after she scaled the world's tallest peak for the eighth time this year.
New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became became the first persons to climb the 8,848- metre peak on May 29, 1953.
A function was organised at the Nepal Tourism Board here to mark the occasion and the 10th International Everest Day which saw participation from internationally acclaimed mountaineers, including Italian climber Reinhold Messner, who scaled the Everest for the first time without oxygen.

On the occasion, Nepal's Deputy Tourism Minister honoured eight Sherpa mountain guides, who were the first persons to scale the Everest this season opening the mountain for other foreign climbers by fixing ropes in the region, which was partly damaged due to the devastating earthquakes of 2015.
Two foreigners, Ken Nubuchi, a Japanese national, and Richard Reagon, a US national, were also honoured for their contribution in distributing relief material in the mountain region that was hit by the earthquakes.
Eight time Mount Everest summitter Lhakpa Sherpa was also honoured on the occasion.
She conquered Mt Everest for the eighth time from the North Col (Tibetan side) this season.

From 1953 to 2016 a total of 4,469 individuals have climbed Mount Everest, according to the Himalaya Database. Everest has been summited 7,646 times, CNN reported.