KATHMANDU, Jan. 12: In what may be a never-fading enthusiasm, Dr. Park Hee Sun, 83-year-old mountaineer from the Republic of Korea, is participating in the much-awaited event- Everest Marathon- to be held in the Khumbu Region in May this year.

According to Damodar S.J.B. Rana, Executive Vice-Chairman of the Mount Everest Golden Jubilee Celebration Committee, the Korean mountaineer is one of a few participants to confirm his participation for the event. The exciting event, which will start from Everest Base Camp and end at Namche in Solukhumbu district, is one of several activities being conducted under the Mount Everest Golden Jubilee Celebration 2002-2003.

Dr. Park, who reached Everest Base Camp in 1994, scaled the 6,654-meter Mera Peak without oxygen in 1995. The untiring mountaineer scaled Uhuru Peak (5,895 m.) in Kilimanzaro of Africa at the age of 82 last year.The famous Zen meditation leader has no high mountain disease.

Rana said some other climbers and those interested in adventure activities are showing their interest in taking part in the event. There will be around 30-35 persons taking part in the marathon. 
The gathering of hundreds of Mt. Everest summiteers in Nepal, which will be the most important event to be held on May 29 this year, is expected to be instrumental in the promotion of Nepal’s mountain tourism world-wide. The event will receive a wide media coverage internationally.

“There will be at least 150 foreign and 200 domestic participants in the gathering,” said Shiva P. Shah, Executive Member of the Mount Everest Golden Jubilee Celebration Committee. “Many more participants could have gathered in Nepal if there had been no negative publicity about Nepal in the international arena.”

Shah told The Rising Nepal that many famous mountaineers such as Sir Edmund Hillary, Junko Tabei, Peter Habler and Peter Hillary are coming to Nepal to mark the historic event in May. The Everest summiteers will be honoured on the occasion.

Shah quoted Edmund Hillary, who had made it to the top of Mt. Sagarmatha together with late Tenzing Norgay Sherpa on May 29, 1953, as saying that the 29th of May belongs to Nepal, and that he will be in Nepal on that day. The historic feat helped make the Himalayan Kingdom known to the world.

NMA is conducting the Golden Jubilee Expedition Campaign on the three newly opened peaks-Mt. Macharmo (6,273 m.), Pharilapcha (6,015 m.) and Mt. Kyajori (6,186 m.). “We are receiving very good response from many foreign mountaineers for the Golden Jubilee Expedition,” said Ang Tshering Sherpa, President of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA).

Sherpa said the Mount Everest Golden Jubilee Celebration, which is one of the components of the Destination Nepal Campaign (DNC) 2002-2003, would be a significant event for further promotion of Nepal as an adventure tourism destination in the international arena.