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Kathmandu City honour Messner & Dr. Helmut
Added: (Wed Oct 20 2004)
Nepal Tourism Board
Nepal Travel Update
October 18, 2004
Kathmandu City honour Messner & Dr. Helmut
The Kathmandu Metropolis City today honoured Reinhold Messner, the first person to climb Everest without oxygen and the climber of all 14 peaks above 8000 metres amidst a civic reception at Hanumandhoka also know as Kathmandu Durbar Square. The felicitation programme was a part of Cho Oyu Golden Jubilee Celebration which started from October 17. He was honoured in a traditional Newari style attended by a large number of summitters and people of Kathmandu. Kathmandu Metropolis City also honoured Dr. Heuberge Helmut, the only living member of first Cho Oyu ascent who accompanied S. Joechler, H. Tichy of Austria and P. Dawa Lama of Nepal in 1954. Addressing the function Mr. Messner strongly emphasised on unique culture, nature and friendliness of Nepalese people to be promoted saying that Nepal's values and cultural heritage are unique which need to be highlighted internationally. Other Cho Oyu summitters were also felicitated on the occasion. Earlier, a procession was taken from Tudhikhel with Cho Oyu summitters on horse carts, followed by prominent tourism personalities like Bhoj Raj Ghimire, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Tek Bahadur Dangi, CEO, Nepal Tourism Board, Ang Tshering Sherpa, President, Nepal Mountaineering Association and Bikrum Pandey, Vice President, Nepal Mountaineering Association, Deepak Mahat, President, Trekking Agents Association of Nepal. The process was led by Police Band and Naumati baja, Nepal's traditional music. The procession went around Kathmandu Durbar Square where the Kathmandu Metropolis City facilitated Cho Oyu summitters and it finally ended at Thamel.
A talk programme and Mini Himalayan International Film Festival were organized in Kathmandu on October 17, 2004 to celebrate Golden Jubilee Celebration of Ascent on Cho Oyu. Dr. Helmut Heuberge, the member of first successful Cho Oyu Expedition in 1954 recalled his past experience saying that the climbing was not as easy as today. He explained about how they got together for the climbing of Cho Oyu which was not known well at that time. Mr. Groselj Viktor from Slovenia who climbed ten above 8000 metres peaks out of 14 said that he climbed 13 peaks in Nepal and only 3 in Tibet which manifested his love for Nepal. Erina of Belarus who climbed Mt. Cho Oyu ten days ago recalled her mountaineering experience in climbing Dhaulagiri, Kanchanjunga and Shisapangma. Moderated by General Secretary of Nepal Mountaineering Association Bhumilal Lama, the programme was attended by a large number of summitters.
Similarly, two films on Cho Oyu were screened in Mini Himalayan International Film Festival after the conclusion of talk show. Explaining about the film festival, coordinator of Mini Himalayan International Film Festival Bikrum Pandey said that one of the reasons to hold this Mini Himalayan Film Festival was to make people aware of Cho Oyu and its grandeur. He further said that the films shown were not a fiction but a story of expedition based on facts and their enduring experience. "The work involved in establishing the camps and the hardships they endured really comes through in these films," he added. The first film was about the first successful Cho Oyu Expeditions with interviews with team members and beautiful footage of climbing. The second film was about the British expedition which successfully climbed Cho Ouy in '80s. These two films drew the attention of climbers and general people about the difficulties faced by Cho Oyu summitters.