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Everest, Langtang, mountaineering and tourism

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A Himalayan High. After a while, at the pilot’s urging, Sakamoto and his companions boarded the helicopter.

A Himalayan High

Left behind, the three of us watched the chopper until it disappeared, and then we returned to reality. For the first time in a long time, I took deep breath after breath of cold mountain air. We walked to Tengboche where I venerated the monastery, chanting the prayer Om mani padme hum which is Namu myoho renge kyo in the Japanese version. We retraced the way we had come, veering off the road to Namche Bazaar for the villages of Khumjung and Khunde located adjacent to each other with a vista of all mountains from Ama Dablam to Kongde stood out in sharp relief. Excited about the mountains, I saw potential for tourism in Nepal. We began talking about the possibility of building a lodge or hotel on the east edge of Syangboche Hill so that people who wanted to see Everest could come and stay there.

I began making serious plans to build a hotel and airfield in that area. As Everest Melts, Bodies Are Emerging From the Ice. Climate change threatens 1,000-year-old monastery in remote Nepal. Humla District, Nepal - The trans-Himalayan village of Halji is a small collection of about 80 closely packed mud-and-stone houses at the base of a moraine hill.

Climate change threatens 1,000-year-old monastery in remote Nepal

Steep cliffs rise on either side of the village that is flanked by a glacial stream on its left. By contemporary standards, Halji is extremely remote. It is snowed in and cut off for six months of the year during winter and does not have mobile network connectivity. The district headquarters, Simikot, is a five-day walk away.

And getting to Kathmandu involves an expensive flight from Simikot. On thin ice in the Khumbu. The Khumbu Icefall funnels ice from the Western Cwm below Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse to the glacier below.

On thin ice in the Khumbu

The ice here has receded at an average of 30m/y in the past 20 years, but it has also shrunk vertically, losing up to 50m in thickness. Everest Base Camp was at 5,330m when Hillary and Tenzing climbed Mt Everest in 1953, today it is at 5,270m. The glacier is also getting flatter: the darker debris makes the ice beneath melt faster near Base Camp, but the thicker layers of boulders and sand further down insulate the ice. Glaciologists say this flatter profile means the ice moves slower, leading to more ponding, and more rapid melting of the ice underneath. Outsideonline. Langtang trekking route damaged in earthquake repaired. People are seen working to rebuild houses in Kyanjin Gumba in Langtang region of Rasuwa district in Nepal on April 25, 2016, one year after the devastating earthquake.

Langtang trekking route damaged in earthquake repaired

Photo: Keshav P. Koirala. Trekking as if people mattered. Havoc in heaven. Langtang’s new life. Survivors prepare for autumn trekking season with new skills and hope for the future REBUILDING BETTER: Karsang Lopchan (extreme left) at a climbing wall in Kathmandu last year during trekking guide training, and last month in Langtang with his ID Tourism has been slow to pick up after Langtang was devastated by the deadly earthquake/avalanche of 25 April 2015, but many survivors who were trained in the hospitality industry while taking shelter in Kathmandu last year are gearing up to restore Langtang — and rebuild it better — to welcome back trekkers.

Langtang’s new life

Two such programs of instruction and guidance in small hotel and lodge management and professional guide training were provided by Tourism Cares, with support from the Rasuwa Relief, Harvard Kennedy School Nepal Fund and Langtang Management and Reconstruction Committee, at the National Academy for Tourism and Hospitality Management in Kathmandu. Lhakpa Jangba learned to bake in Kathmandu, and returned to Langtang to revive his Dorje Bakery. Tourism for the people, by the people. Pics: Kunda Dixit WASTE NOT: Douglas Maclagan demonstsrates how a biogas digester uses hotel sewage and farm waste to fuel the kitchen at The Pavilions Himalayas in Pokhara.

Tourism for the people, by the people

Doug Maclagan has been helping thousands of abandoned children in Nepal with schooling and health, setting up projects to protect the environment and provide vocational training for Nepali youth. So, as he turns 50 after spending half his life in Nepal, the Scotsman should be sleeping more soundly than most of us. But Maclagan says he cannot afford to sleep, there is just too much left to be done. Langtang is ready for you. Are you? The scenic national park is open to trekkers again after last year’s deadly earthquake and avalanche all Pics: Liew yu Wei Last year’s earthquake at 11:56 am on 25 April shook off a chunk of the southern flank of Mt Langtang Lirung (7,227m) and sent it crashing into the glacier below, bulldozing the ice over a cliff and down on the valley.

Langtang is ready for you. Are you?

Here's What Happened When A Nonprofit Group Gave Cameras To Nepali Earthquake Survivors : Goats and Soda. Nepal: Guides and Climbers Consider Life After the Quake. The walls of Panuru Sherpa’s guesthouse in Phortse, Nepal are decorated with every mountaineering award imaginable.

Nepal: Guides and Climbers Consider Life After the Quake

Hung next to pictures of his family are accolades from the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Star Awards from Denali National Park, and letters of appreciation from the Chinese Mountaineering Association, to name a few. He took his first expedition to Mount Everest when he was 17, and has since summited the mountain 10 times. Everest sits at 29,000 feet in the highest mountain range in the world, the Khumbu Himalaya—Panuru’s backyard. Finding work as an experienced mountain guide shouldn’t be hard for Panuru, and it normally isn’t. But this year he’s worried.

Nepal's Hard Rock Cafe. Kartok Lama is a disabled woman from Langtang whose small teashop was destroyed in Nepal’s earthquake.

Nepal's Hard Rock Cafe

Her village was buried by an avalanche, but she is determined to rebuild. In 2015, on April 25, Kartok Lama was in her teashop in the upper Langtang Valley. Nestled against a monolithic boulder which formed its back wall, her teashop in the Himalayas was a natural resting point for trekkers hiking through the 4,000 metre high valley she calls home. She had just finished filling three thermoses with tea when the earth began to shake. Peak Tourism. High-end hilltop hideaways present the best way to rebuild tourism in earthquake-hit areas The view from Gorkha Gaun: Gorkha Himal, the ridge of Gorkha Durbar and Gorkha town at its base Nepal’s mountain tourism has been in decline in the past decade due to the rapid spread of jeep tracks, and in the past year because of the earthquake.

Peak Tourism

But trekking could be revived with a new brand of tourism that combines hilltop properties with upgraded homestays that benefits local populations. Traditionally, the well-to-do of the hills have owned the khet (irrigated fields) in the besi (valley floors), with the unirrigated bari land on the ridgeline and hilltops thumka left to the poor. Return to Nepal: a year after the earthquake. “I was playing cards with my mother and my wife was cooking tea in the kitchen. We ran out and clutched the frame of the front door. My wife was crying: ‘sai baba, sai baba’ – her favourite Indian saint – ‘save me!’ Delay in reconstruction threatens recovery of tourism sector.

Photo:THT World China says Brunei, Cambodia, Laos agree sea dispute must not hurt ties China has agreed with Brunei, Cambodia and Laos th... Kathmandu Delay in schools’ reconstruction hits students badly The massive earthquake that hit the country last y... Automobile German automakers to recall 630,000 cars German news agency dpa is reporting that several o... A year after Nepal quake, some united in grief; others climb again. A boy riding a bicycle looks at a collapsed house after Saturday’s earthquake, in Kathmandu, Nepal April 28, 2015.

REUTERS Art & Culture Reconstruction models Residential neighbourhoods in the historic core ar... Automobile German automakers to recall 630,000 cars German news agency dpa is reporting that several o... Dave Morton Is Quitting Everest. Maybe. (It's Complicated.) David Morton in Lukla, Nepal, in January. Photo: Prasiit Sthapit The ground beneath you can shift at any moment. For David Morton, it happened when he was going to see about some yaks. On April 25, 2015, the mountain guide and photographer, who is now 44, walked out of Thame, a small Sherpa village in the Khumbu region of Nepal. He knew the route well. Glogin?URI= My Republica - Avalanche. 20160104. Nepal climbers face ruin after quake, blockade hits Everest industry. Nepal climbers face ruin after quake, blockade hits Everest industry. Taking the high road. After decades of debate about the pros and cons of having the remote trans-Himalayan district of Manang connected by a motorable road, and the impact it would have on trekking in this scenic region, there is now a regular jeep service to the Pokhara-Kathmandu Highway.

And it looks like Manang will not just survive, but prosper from the connectivity. All pics: Seulki Lee The rough 12-hour ride from Besisahar to Manang follows what used to be one of the world’s most spectacular hiking trails up to Thorung La (5,416m) on the Annapurna Circuit . Although trekker numbers have dropped, most residents of Manang are glad that the road has reduced travel time since it opened in March. “The road saves time, allows us to take the sick to hospital, it has made things cheaper,” says Binod Gurung of a local conservation group. Interactive map by Ayesha Shakya Manang used to be one of the last four districts to be connected to Nepal’s road network, now there are only two left: Dolpo and Humla. The Economist. Trekking trails half-full… at least not half empty. Improving relationships in the tourism industry. Tourism in Khumbu region rebounds after earthquake. Icefall doctors at base camp to fix Everest route for autumn. Next Generation Nepal - Ethical Volunteering.

Forced smiles. Blazing new trails in the monsoon. Some international mountaineers stayed on in Nepal after their expeditions were cancelled to help with quake relief When mountaineers get into trouble during climbing expeditions they need to be rescued. Nepal signals peak season recovery. Nepal travel advisories eased. Travel Blog by Kunda Dixit. My Republica - Govt to reduce trekking permit charge for Dolpa, Mustang.

Nepal Reopens Heritage Sites Despite U.N. Concerns. Head Sherpa Recounts Nepal Quake, Two Weeks Later. Nepal: Travelling to Nepal Post Quake? Trekking in solitude. Avalanches disrupt efforts to rescue bodies from landslide-hit Langtang. Plan Your Next Himalayan Expedition Mindfully. Patan Durbar Square, closed after April 25 earthquake, reopens for the public and tourists. Bhaktapur is waiting for you. Nepal prays for return of tourists after earthquakes. Nepal prays for return of tourists after earthquakes. Quake-hit Nepal seeks experts’ advice on tourism - BBC News. Nepal quake: Everest Sherpas warn of mountain risks - BBC News.

Langtang Disaster Relief Found Ies Monterroso Estepona. The Himalayan Times (Mobile) The Himalayan Times (Mobile) 304847091. Earthquake in the Langtang Valley « Skagit Alpinism. A new generation will help Nepal rise up and rebuild. Behind the Hype, It's Nepalese Who Rescue Stranded Trekkers. Nepal quake: Hopes to save tourism by restoring temples - BBC News. About 100 bodies found in Nepal trekking village. Nepal earthquake: Mount Everest climbs 'almost impossible' - BBC News. Nepal earthquake: Trekkers escape building as quake hits - BBC News. Did Nepal Earthquake Change Mount Everest’s Height? How Everest Climbers Made the Nepal Earthquake Even Worse.