 |
Kathmandu Friday May 25, 2001 Jestha 12, 2058.
|
Temba
youngest Everester
Post Report
KATHMANDU, May 24 – Temba Tsheri Sherpa, 16, who had
lost five fingers to frostbite last year, has scaled Mt. Everest to become the youngest
climber to summit the world’s highest mountain.
Temba set foot on the summit Tuesday at 7 a.m. local time
from the Tibetan side of the mountain. According to Pemba Sherpa, director of the
Thamserku Trekking that had equipped and sponsored the expedition, team members had called
from the base camp to report the climb and that Temba was already headed back towards the
base camp after the successful climb.
This was his second attempt on the mountain. Last year, a
failed attempt from the Nepali side of the peak had ended with him losing five of his
fingers to frostbite. He was only meters away from the summit when he was forced to turn
around due to exhaustion, frostbite and lack of bottled oxygen.
Born in Gaurishankar Village in Dolakha, he is an eighth
grade student at Sidartha Vanasthali Institute, Kathmandu.
Meanwhile, at least 19 foreign climbers and their Sherpa
guides have scaled the peak form the southern side today, according to the Ministry of
Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.
The Mountain Experience Expedition put five members and
nine Nepali Sherpa guides on the summit while the Indian army expedition had one member
and four Sherpa guides atop Everest.
On the sad note, an Austrian climber identified as Peter
Gerfreid Ganner, a broadcast engineer, fell 500 meters at an altitude of 8,500 meters and
died on the mountain. While there are reports that an Australian climber also died on his
way to the summit on the Tibetan side.
Other Stories
|
