Mount Everest’s 70th Anniversary: 500 Climbers, 4 Indians Summit Mount Everest in 2023

Mount Everest's 70th Anniversary: 500 Climbers, 4 Indians Summit Mount Everest in 2023

VoM News Desk | December 29, 2023 | 04:55 PM IST | India, Tourism, Travel, World | Follow on Google News

Mount Everest’s 70th Anniversary: 500 Climbers, 4 Indians Summit Mount Everest in 2023/NDTV

Mount Everest’s 70th Anniversary: 500 Climbers, 4 Indians Summit Mount Everest in 2023

Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Mount Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953, 478 climbers, including four Indians, achieved the summit in 2023. This milestone occurred amid growing environmental apprehensions concerning rising temperatures, glacial melt, and extreme weather events impacting the Himalayas.

Since the legendary summit, over 7,000 climbers have conquered Everest, while over 300 lost their lives in the pursuit. This year, 11 climbers met a tragic fate, and eight went missing during expeditions. Among the notable triumphs, Kami Rita Sherpa completed a record 28 ascents, Hari Budhamagar, a double amputee ex-British Gurkha soldier, scaled Everest with artificial legs, and an Indian-origin climber, Shrinivas Sainis Dattatraya, went missing.

While these achievements showcased human endurance, concerns loomed over the Sherpa community’s vulnerability, highlighted by the loss of three Sherpas in an early-season avalanche. Nepal issued a record 466 climbing permits, indicating the thriving mountaineering tourism industry, essential for the region’s economy.

However, the climate crisis poses a threat, with melting glaciers and heightened extreme weather jeopardizing livelihoods. Reports from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) revealed a significant thinning of glaciers surrounding Everest, emphasizing a worrying trend.

In response to these concerns, ICIMOD, along with global mountain institutes, initiated the #SaveOurSnow campaign. Coinciding with Everest’s anniversary, this campaign urges governments to fulfill commitments to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, emphasizing the urgency to safeguard the fragile Himalayan ecosystem.

As the mountaineering community celebrates remarkable feats, the simultaneous call to address environmental challenges resonates, emphasizing the need for collective action to preserve the world’s highest peak and its surrounding Himalayan region.

VoM News Desk

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