The Everest Memorial, a snowy steel sculpture of Mt. Everest, was commissioned for the Everest Memorial Trust in a special exhibition at the Beardsmore Gallery in London on 17 July 2002, a press release from the Royal Nepalese Embassy London said.

The Memorial has been commissioned to commemorate the lives of 150 climbers from throughout the world who died in their attempts to reach the summit.

The work, designed and created by Mr Oliver Barratt, is a two metre high stainless steel split cone, the two halves of which stand 70 cm apart. The names of the dead are held within this crevasse, engraved on the inside flat faces of the work.

In October 2002, the Memorial will be flown to Kathmandu and from there to Lukla where it will be carried out by a team of Sherpas for seven days before it arrives at the village of Pherechi, where it will be assembled by Oliver.

The Memorial will be sited close to the Himalayan Rescue Association Hospital, situated at an altitude of 15000ft and one day’s walk from the Everest Base Camp, where the Everest Memorial Trust is currently engaged in the building programme of the hospital and upgrading the medical facilities.

Every year scores of mountaineering expedition teams from across the world assemble at the feet of Mount Everest to pit their wit and strength on the tallest mountain of the earth.

The sculpture and working drawings will be on show at the Gallery from 18-28 July 2002. (reference: Royal Nepalese Embassy London July 18)