<img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101152/636cca959c7e80680e08bb75jpeg.jpg" alt="Atlantic charity rowing race"/>Four members of a boat that took part in the world’s most challenging competition to raise money for schools in Nepal have come third in a grueling trans-Atlantic rowing race.  Calum Barclay, Ashley Jones, Nick Kempster and Jack Carter took part in the <a href="https://www.taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1612604576130000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFLdwPB7eR_WHzv86BQ9UJxNaGdlQ">Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge</a> to row 5,000 km from the Canary Islands to the West Indies in 37 days.“Being a Gurkha officer in the British Army, I had knowledge and love for Nepal, and we have so far raised enough money to build two schools in Nepal and hopefully we will raise more,” says Ashley Jones. The <a href="https://www.humanpractice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Durga_Secondary_School.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.humanpractice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Durga_Secondary_School.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1612604576130000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGuo1QMhRTXlEiOxWPyuIZ8119zow">two schools are in Taplejung</a> in eastern Nepal.The crew has a target of raising $300,000 for <a href="https://hpfatlantic.co.uk/index.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://hpfatlantic.co.uk/index.php&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1612604576130000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFc5coNpy7LGA-BWYcEnPpbUYIZ0g">The Human Practice Foundation (HPF)</a> to help build schools to educate 1,300 children every year. HPF, set up in 2014, has built 59 schools in Nepal and Kenya, helping educate 27,000 children. It also supports a <a href="https://www.humanpractice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Case_Coffee-Practice.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.humanpractice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Case_Coffee-Practice.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1612604576130000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEOd3fi8ox8__DhOqsGfx1djnzQ9g">Coffee Impact Program</a> in Nepal. <img width="1024" height="768" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101152/636cca989c7e80680e08bb76jpeg.jpg" alt="Atlantic charity rowing race">The team rowed for two hours at a time and had two hours off, doing this for 24 hours a day for the 37 days it took to make the crossing. They ate freeze-dried high calories foods, and consumed 5 litres of water each per day from a water maker device on board. They navigated using an electronic chart plotter and had information on weather so they could avoid bad weather and take advantage of winds.  “We never slept for more than 1.5 hours at any one stretch, and once a day could link to the internet for 5 minutes,” Jones said.The team <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/rowing-across-the-atlantic-to-help-nepal-school/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/rowing-across-the-atlantic-to-help-nepal-school/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1612604576130000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGalx7E2PEx65RiGV2p3uHG9CgMcg">left the UK at the height of Covid-19</a> and reached La Gomera in the Canaries. But for the worst part of the pandemic the team was out at sea. The team took a more northerly route because of the weather, but it lost its lead. Then northerly winds battered the boat with waves over the beam.“During the last third of the trip, it was really quite hot and no escape. The cabins were hot to touch and the inside was like an oven,” Jones recalls.The crew did some fishing more for distraction than for food, catching mahi-mahi and tuna. They saw minke whales, dolphins, turtles, tuna, and swordfish. Of the 20 boats that left the Canary Islands, four were attacked by marlin, and their hulls speared.Members of the crew have served in war zones, rowed the North Pacific, climbed mountains, and ran marathons. Some members of the group now want to row across the Indian Ocean, but the others will go back to their day jobs in the UK. “We will have to wait and see how the recovery goes, but I imagine it will take some time to forget the hardship, but who knows,” Jones says.   More people have climbed Mt Everest than rowed the ocean, and the team members spent two years planning for the race with over 100 hours of training. They battled 10m waves, and used buckets for toilets, losing 12kg of body weight during the crossing.

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Rowing to educate Nepal children

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be71f9c7e80680e0877dfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768"/><figcaption>The crew with their boat as they train for the rowing challenge. Photo courtesy: ASHLEY JONES</figcaption></figure>The four crew members have completed military tours in combat zones, rowed the North Pacific, ran the Marathon De Sable and climbed mountains. Now, they are all set to take on their biggest adventure yet -- the Atlantic Rowing Race.They are joining what has been dubbed the world’s toughest race to raise money to build schools in rural Nepal.Calum Barclay, Ashley Jones, Nick Kempster and Jack Carter will be taking on the ocean rowing race the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, which gets under way on 12 December from the Canary Islands to the West Indies, a distance of approximately 5,000km.“Long before Covid-19 surfaced I took the decision to row the Atlantic with a friend. We soon found two others and in January 2019 registered for a race,” says Jones. “Rowing an ocean is something that has appealed greatly to me for a very long time. Fifteen years ago I signed up to row the Indian Ocean but sadly that journey did not materialise. This time it’s for real.”The team has been planning for the race for two years and has over 100 hours of in-boat training for the annual race founded in 1997. Participants endure rowing in 30ft waves, 1,800km from shore day and night being self-sufficient on 28-foot boat for 35-40 days.Each crew member will have a punishing shift pattern of 2-hours on 2-hours off with real possibility of extreme mental and physical exhaustion and eat re-hydrated food, sleep in tiny cabins in over 30 degrees heat, and toilet will be a bucket at best.On average a person loses 12kgs during the crossing.The crew aim to raise $300,000 for The Human Practice Foundation (HPF) to help build schools to educate 1,300 children every single year. HPF, set up in 2014 has built 59 schools in Nepal and Kenya, helping educate 27,000 children.“The UK branch of HPF has only recently opened and as with all other charities the current climate has adversely affected the ability to raise funds. But with this we are hoping to raise enough money to build two schools in the Taplejung region of North East Nepal,” says Jones. “Good thing is this part of the world is familiar to me as a former member of the Royal Gurkha Rifles.”The team has already left from the UK to begin the race from La Gomerain the Canary Islands on 12 December.Those interested can follow the team on their Facebook and Instagram (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/hpfatlantic/">hpfatlantic</a>) or visit its  <a href="http://www.hpfatlantic.co.uk/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.hpfatlantic.co.uk&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590988113000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFP9sFR51j7esNwFxmqP91Dws10Ww">website</a> which also accepts donations. Followers can also download the app '<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yellowbrick.raceviewer&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=US">YB Races</a>’ (accessible from 12 December) and by adding 'Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge 2020' will get to see exactly where the crew and the other boats are.

Rowing across the Atlantic to help Nepal schools

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191112/636bee254b0ad905ca02ef28jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768"/><figcaption>The crew with their boat as they train for the rowing challenge. Photo courtesy: ASHLEY JONES</figcaption></figure>The four crew members have completed military tours in combat zones, rowed the North Pacific, ran the Marathon De Sable and climbed mountains. Now, they are all set to take on their biggest adventure yet -- the Atlantic Rowing Race.They are joining what has been dubbed the world’s toughest race to raise money to build schools in rural Nepal.Calum Barclay, Ashley Jones, Nick Kempster and Jack Carter will be taking on the ocean rowing race the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, which gets under way on 12 December from the Canary Islands to the West Indies, a distance of approximately 5,000km.“Long before Covid-19 surfaced I took the decision to row the Atlantic with a friend. We soon found two others and in January 2019 registered for a race,” says Jones. “Rowing an ocean is something that has appealed greatly to me for a very long time. Fifteen years ago I signed up to row the Indian Ocean but sadly that journey did not materialise. This time it’s for real.”The team has been planning for the race for two years and has over 100 hours of in-boat training for the annual race founded in 1997. Participants endure rowing in 30ft waves, 1,800km from shore day and night being self-sufficient on 28-foot boat for 35-40 days.Each crew member will have a punishing shift pattern of 2-hours on 2-hours off with real possibility of extreme mental and physical exhaustion and eat re-hydrated food, sleep in tiny cabins in over 30 degrees heat, and toilet will be a bucket at best.On average a person loses 12kgs during the crossing.The crew aim to raise $300,000 for The Human Practice Foundation (HPF) to help build schools to educate 1,300 children every single year. HPF, set up in 2014 has built 59 schools in Nepal and Kenya, helping educate 27,000 children.“The UK branch of HPF has only recently opened and as with all other charities the current climate has adversely affected the ability to raise funds. But with this we are hoping to raise enough money to build two schools in the Taplejung region of North East Nepal,” says Jones. “Good thing is this part of the world is familiar to me as a former member of the Royal Gurkha Rifles.”The team has already left from the UK to begin the race from La Gomerain the Canary Islands on 12 December.Those interested can follow the team on their Facebook and Instagram (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/hpfatlantic/">hpfatlantic</a>) or visit its  <a href="http://www.hpfatlantic.co.uk/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.hpfatlantic.co.uk&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607590988113000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFP9sFR51j7esNwFxmqP91Dws10Ww">website</a> which also accepts donations. Followers can also download the app '<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yellowbrick.raceviewer&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=US">YB Races</a>’ (accessible from 12 December) and by adding 'Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge 2020' will get to see exactly where the crew and the other boats are.

<figure><img width="1592" height="1236" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5ae9c7e80680e07bc19jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Memorial painting to honour the conservation heroes, showing Kangchenjunga, Ghunsa village and the tail of the helicopter disappearing into a cloud.</figcaption></figure>That night in Taplejung, we sang and danced to the tune of Sorha Barse Umera Ma. It was my conservation guru Chandra Gurung’s favourite song, and one he sang during many occasions. That song still brings back memories of the night 15 years ago as I sing it in every staff retreat to pay tribute to my mentor. The pain of loss is still palpable.We celebrated, but it was short-lived. Little did I know that 24 hours later I would be hiking all night with Ang Phuri Sherpa and a rescue team to Ghunsa to find the crash site, after bad weather forced our search helicopter to drop us in Pholey.    <figure><img width="640" height="485" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5b19c7e80680e07bc1ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="479" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5b49c7e80680e07bc1bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="830" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5b89c7e80680e07bc1cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It had been rainy in Ghunsa on 23 September 2006, as the Mi-8 helicopter took off and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12536#.X2lxfi0w0Wp" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D12536%23.X2lxfi0w0Wp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600834563133000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG9uQ7yXtrsOngM5mc0o9mK47-57Q">disappeared into the clouds</a>. I was supposed to be on it, but had to make space for the dignitaries who had come for the handover ceremony of the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA) to the community.  <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13985#.X2jR2C0w0Wo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D13985%23.X2jR2C0w0Wo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600834563133000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEOO3FuIvqs0IS3N7A5tTwMbpM6wQ">Twenty-four people died</a> in that tragedy this week 15 years ago, among them Nepal’s conservation heroes: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12572#.X2mNRxAzaUk">Harka Gurung</a>, veteran geographer and planner; <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16569#.X2mNeBAzaUk">Chandra Gurung</a> who designed the model of using tourism income to pay for conservation; <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12581#.X2mPNhAzaUk">Mingma Norbu Sherpa</a>, who helped establish the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/municipalities-want-to-manage-annapurna/">Annapurna Conservation Area</a>; <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10375#.X2mO9RAzaUk">Tirthman Maskey</a>, who paved the way for people and parks to coexist. Nepal also lost Forest Minister Gopal Rai, Secretary Damodar Parajuli, and Director Generals Sharad K Rai and Narayan P Paudel. Also on board was the first Chair of the KCA Management Committee, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12574#.X2mPlxAzaUk">Dawa Tshering Sherpa.</a>The shock of the deaths posed a pressing question: were Nepal’s achievements in conservation now in jeopardy? The model of participatory conservation pioneered in Nepal was an example to the world, but could the path-breaking work of these visionaries be sustained? <figure><img width="1012" height="1092" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5ba9c7e80680e07bc1djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Fifteen years on, looking at the accomplishments since, we can proudly say that the country has honoured those leading lights of Nepal’s conservation movement by carrying on their work, and come out even stronger. We have witnessed a remarkable shift in various facets of conservation in Nepal: from the recovery of species numbers to the expansion of protected areas systems with growing participation of people from all walks of life.  <figure><img width="1444" height="964" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5bd9c7e80680e07bc1ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nepal’s tiger population has crossed 235, indicating a dramatic increase from 121 in 2009. The number of rhinos increased from 435 in 2008 to 645 in 2015, with zero rhino poaching for the first time since 2011. Snow leopard conservation and research has advanced, with Nepal now holding the fifth largest population among 12 snow leopard range states.  There have been similar successes among other species, including blue sheep, Himalayan tahr, gaur and gharial. The species recovery of rhinos, blackbuck, wild water buffalo in their former ranges are other important milestones of our conservation journey.  After KAC, Nepal has added three more protected area systems: Gauri-Shankar Conservation Area, Api Nampa Conservation Area, Banke National Park – covering 4,632square km across two landscapes, Kailash and Chitwan-Annapurna. These conservation initiatives have placed emphasis on ensuring equal benefits to communities promoting a harmonious existence between humans and wildlife. The community-based conservation initiatives have been critical in protecting species as well as ensuring a sustainable future for people living in and near wilderness areas.   While the sudden loss of so many professionals put a dent on Nepal’s environmental movement, their legacy has continued with a new generation of committed specialists who were trained and mentored by them. This new crop of young conservationists received scholarships established in the memory of the pioneers who died 15 years ago. They have gone on to do exemplary field work, and are now in key decision-making positions in Nepal to guide future conservation efforts.  <figure><img width="640" height="428" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5c09c7e80680e07bc1fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="428" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5c39c7e80680e07bc20jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/go-eat-to-kanchenjunga">Kangchenjunga</a> itself, the KCA has led by example for 15 years, presenting a strong case for participatory conservation where the local community is entrusted with the stewardship of the natural and culture resources of the<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tracing-past-glacial-floods-in-kangchenjunga/"> region below the world’s third-highest mountain. </a>The concept of participatory conservation has been around since mid-1980s after Mingma Sherpa and Chandra Gurung first introduced it in the Annapurna Conservation Area followed by the Manaslu Conservation Area. Now, the KCA has gained recognition across Asia as an exemplary model in championing this approach. There were a slew of underlying factors that laid the basis for KCA’s success – primary among them were concrete legal, institutional and financial mechanisms.The KCA project was launched in March 1998 by the government in partnership with WWF Nepal to address both the livelihood needs of local people and biodiversity conservation. In the lead-up to the handover of this protected area in 2006, numerous legal and policy instruments were put in place, including conservation area management regulations and plans. A community-based Kangchenjunga Conservation Area Management Council (KCAMC) was formed, and entrusted with running the KCA with full authority to take care of the region’s natural resources. A community-based women’s group was also formed and trained, and now has 33% representation in KCAMC. We can take this as an example of how integrating communities into conservation efforts can yield multipronged benefits. To date, 35 mother’s groups have provided 206 scholarships to socio-economically excluded girls, many of whom have grown up to be professionals working at KCA and elsewhere.  <figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5c69c7e80680e07bc21jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5c99c7e80680e07bc22jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>For conservationists, the handover of KCA in 2006 was a significant milestone, it also ended up being an unimaginable tragedy and setback. Merely 12 hours after celebrating the transfer to the community in Taplejung, and soon after taking off from Ghunsa, the helicopter carrying Nepal’s top conservationists flew into a cliff hidden by cloud. Ever since, 23 September has been marked as Nepal’s National Conservation Day in memory of these Conservation Heroes.Chungla Sherpa, a former scholarship recipient and now a ranger at the Forest Research and Training Center in Pokhara says, “<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17700" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D17700&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600834563133000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGvuk9RrrOEW-r4HMvCVLrTdmKY0Q">The Mingma Norbu Sherpa Memorial Scholarship</a> had a profound impact on my life. It built my future, and I hope that I will be able to follow the footsteps of the conservation heroes who made this possible. I hope that I can someday give back to others.” <figure><img width="640" height="800" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5cc9c7e80680e07bc23jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The leaders continue to make a positive impact on Nepal and the world long after their departure. We may have lost our heroes on that fateful day, but their work has carried on through a new generation which was given the opportunity for the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/out-of-the-ashes/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/out-of-the-ashes/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600834563133000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEGjAKCnYGoX4DlTmPwHwtk8ixzdQ">best conservation education</a> through <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18587" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D18587&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600834563133000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG5J15BsMLu9gHX-qebEeGjPCmELg">scholarships created in their memory</a>. I feel fortunate and grateful to have been one of them. Now, we need to <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?174861/Conserveation-Heroes-remembered" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?174861/Conserveation-Heroes-remembered&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600834563133000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHuF4uHclPRUQbPiD7B9PpcazTDjA">pass the torch to yet another generation</a> to help preserve our natural heritage, just like our predecessors once did. Fifteen years down the line, Nepal has taken great strides in conservation despite the tragedy, and despite facing multiple challenges since.  Let us mark this day with a renewed commitment to the goals set by our conservation pioneers, so we can overcome obstacles that lie ahead as we grapple with the pandemic and its aftermath. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/11-day-trek-is-now-a-days-drive-in-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/11-day-trek-is-now-a-days-drive-in-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600834563133000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHnCe3SmMkuGzBulo3cotjccIyIHQ">Ghana S Gurung</a> is the Country Representative of WWF in Nepal and Snow Leopard Champion for the Global WWF Network. The views expressed here are personal.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5ce9c7e80680e07bc24jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="146">

Remembering Nepal’s conservation heroes

<figure><img width="1500" height="994" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181144/636a95cc9c7e80680e05dc2bjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: PETER DEAN</figcaption></figure>If there is one book you must set aside, either for new year holiday reading or as a Christmas gift to a fellow traveller, it would be <a href="https://www.talesfromthehimalaya.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tales from the Himalaya</a> by the British climber-turned-trekker Henry Edmundson, which has just been published by Vajra Books.Edmundson was a boy when news came to his home in England that Hillary and Tenzing had climbed Mt Everest. His father, an outdoorsy type, immediately took the family out on a celebratory hike over the hills. Soon, Edmundson was devouring books on mountaineering and exploration. Read Also:  <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=35947&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Lumba Sumba Passage,</a> Henry Edmundson“It became a sort of obsession,” Edmundson said in Kathmandu this month after a trek to Lumba Sumba. His wife, and lifelong trekking partner Connie, piped in: “Not just ‘sort of’.”By age 19, Edmundson was climbing in Kashmir and in Balistan in Pakistan, and in the past nearly 50 years he has trekked almost the entire Himalayan arc, from Afghanistan to Bhutan. The Kangchenjunga Base Camp-Lumba Sumba was one of the last missing bits before he did it this year.The view from Lumba Sumba pass towards Kangchenjunga is the cover image of Tales from the Himalaya. The title may sound a bit prosaic for a personal encyclopaedia of the Himalaya spanning everything from the politics, geopolitics, geo-tectonics, geography, geology, cartography, history, adventure, culture and religion of these mountains. Vast in scope, and leaving out no details however slight, it is clear this is Edmundson’s life’s work.Graduating in mathematical logic, he worked for an oil prospecting company to bring out a technical journal, and kept a meticulous diary of all his treks, fully intending to write a book about the experiences one day. “I wanted the book to be holistic because I believe in a non-specialist approach to make the subject interesting to non-experts,” Edmundson explains. “I try to make complicated things simple and not make simple things complicated.”The book is divided into thematic chapters that are interwoven with his own personal travels across the Himalaya: Religion, Geology, Politics and Society — the last chapter dealing exclusively with Nepal’s political transition from war to peace, and up to the 2015 earthquake and Indian Blockade and their aftermath.When he first arrived in Kathmandu in 1971 as a young lad, Edmundson had three letters of introduction from John Tyson, who was part of an unsuccessful attempt on Mt Api in 1953: one to the British Ambassador, another to trekking pioneer <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/hiking-with-jimmy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Col Jimmy Roberts</a> and one to Swiss pilot <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9306#.XczeotIza70" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hardy Furer</a>. That gave him all the access he needed to set off to the deep hinterland, with the help of legendary porter activist <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9296#.Xczez9Iza70" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Cheney</a>.For his first trek, the author’s team chose one of the most difficult ones they could find: to Kanjiroba and Dhorpatan. In that respect, Edmundson was doing the Great Himalayan Trail even before the concept was invented, confining himself not just to the Nepal Himalaya but to the entire 3,000km mountain arc. Along the way, he encountered more than just adventures in the wild: he found himself in the middle of a skirmish in Kashmir, in an earthquake in Nepal and witnessing the changes to trekking brought by new mountains roads and the climate crisis.One useful thing about this book is that you do not need to read it cover to cover. Curled up on a cosy sofa by the fire, you can open up any section and start reading. There is a lucid account of Toni Hagen and his early geological exploration of Nepal, which leads directly into seismicity and the orogenesis of the 1934 and 2015 earthquakes. Backgrounds to more political upheavals in mountains are also all here, starting from the British Afghan campaign of 1847, the Chinese annexation of Tibet and the Sino-India War of 1962, right up to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2013/05/26/remember-what-happened/">Nepal’s Maoist conflict</a>.Edmundson has put a huge amount of work into this book, in terms of research, gathering illustrations and maps, and the sheer exertion of undertaking trips across some of the most arduous terrain on Earth.Maybe you do not need a more exciting title when the content is so stimulating. And, finally, we have a Western writer who does not pluralise the word ‘Himalaya’.  <img width="300" height="346" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181144/636a95cf9c7e80680e05dc2cjpeg.jpg" alt="">   <a href="https://vajrabookshop.com/categories/vajra-publications/products/tales-from-the-himalaya" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tales from the Himalaya: Religion, Science, Politics, Society</a> by Henry Edmundson <a href="https://vajrabookshop.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vajra Books</a>, Kathmandu, 2019 424 pages, Rs4,800 ISBN 978-9937-9330-3-2

Kunda Dixit

A personal encyclopaedia of the Himalaya

<figure><img width="2592" height="1944" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28c89c7e80680e04588fjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>There is no temple at Pathibhara, but there are many resting places and a slaughter house for sacrifices. Photos: SEWA BHATTARAI</figcaption></figure>There is a belief that a pilgrimage to the mountain-top shrine of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15405#.XHyvwcAzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pathibhara</a> is all it takes to have one’s wish granted by the gods. However, there is also a belief that if the journey is too easy, the blessing may not be granted.Many kings and politicians in the past have been thwarted by weather or other obstacles from taking a helicopter to the shrine located at the summit of a monolithic 3,800m high pyramid-shaped mountain in eastern Nepal.Like other holy places in other religions, the hardships endured in the journey are as important as the act of worshipping and sacrificing sheep at the shrine. It is not supposed to be easy.   <figure><img width="2592" height="1944" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28cc9c7e80680e045890jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/helicopter-carrying-tourism-minister-crashes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari</a>, Yeti Airlines founder Ang Tshiring Sherpa and five others had flown in from Kathmandu to Tehrathum on the morning of 27 February to inspect a proposed airfield. The weather was closing in, and angry dark clouds had enveloped the mountains to the north.There was talk about the weather getting worse, and the need to get back to Kathmandu. But after the helicopter took off, the group appears to have decided to make a quick trip up to Pathibhara.  <figure><img width="1492" height="964" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28cf9c7e80680e045891jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>We will never know who proposed the side trip, but within ten minutes the chopper was on the helipad below the shrine. Soon after, the pilot radioed the tower at Suketar airfield that there was heavy snow and it was not possible to take off. The passengers waited it out inside the helicopter sipping tea, and waiting for the clouds to clear.Information pieced together from conversation overheard by the temple priest suggests that one of the passengers suggested they take off because the weather enroute was fine. That turned out to be a fatal decision, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-last-journey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">helicopter crashed</a> into the cliff at Sisne Bhir a minute after takeoff.  <figure><img width="2592" height="1944" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28d29c7e80680e045892jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Pathibhara was an animist Limbu shrine, but after the Gorkha conquest came to be revered by Hindus and Buddhists alike as a holy shrine. The temple is so called because the mountain is shaped like a pathi (a grain container). Local Limbus worship it as a place of power and purity. No matter how old the devotees, they are all guided by devotion to undertake the steep all-day climb up from the road. That Pathibhara temple is located so high and the trail is almost impassable during heavy rain or snow means many try to fly there, and helicopter companies offer quick roundtrips from Suketar, or even Dharan.  <figure><img width="4128" height="2322" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28d59c7e80680e045893jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It is not just the final climb on foot that is arduous, the ride from Birtamod to Fungling is no less difficult – it can take a whole day along narrow and serpentine mountain roads. In the old days, people had to make a two-week trek from the plains, but with the road to <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/the-kingdom-of-cardamom" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taplejung</a>, the journey time was cut to three days. Now, an expensive and jolting jeep ride takes pilgrims up to Tallo Phedi. Many prefer to walk because the roller coaster ride on the jeep is not for the faint-hearted. There is also a shortage of jeeps, which means pilgrims returning prefer to walk back to Fungling instead of waiting. <figure><img width="4128" height="2322" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28d99c7e80680e045894jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>From Tallo Phedi it is a long climb to Mathillo Phedi, the ramshackle base camp for the final summit climb. Hundreds of pilgrims cram into tin huts huddled together for the night. The hardships are part of the pilgrimage, and endured uncomplainingly by devotees. Pathibhara gets over 350,000 visitors per year, and half of them are on the trails at any given time, some even wake up at 2AM and walk with flashlights just to be ahead of the crowds. Despite the throngs, the forests are lush with oak and rhododendron giving way to pine and alpine meadows. Within a few weeks the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3642#.XHyvw8AzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rhododendron will be out in full bloom</a> in many colours: pink, red, striped, and sometimes solid and striped flowers on the same tree. This year many branches have broken due to the weight of heavy snowfall.    <figure><img width="1280" height="960" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28dc9c7e80680e045895jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The majestic peak of Jannu Himal and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/go-eat-to-kanchenjunga" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mt Kanchenjunga</a> accompanies visitors throughout the climb, and the 360 degree view from the summit is stunning. Even those who are not particularly religious are overwhelmed by a feeling of exhilaration by the panorama, the crisp cold air and the mysterious energy of the shrine that pull many to it.The Minister and Sherpa reportedly flew to Pathibhara to inspect a proposed cable car up to the shrine. Perhaps the legends are right, and the gods of Pathibhara do not want it to be more accessible.  <img width="2592" height="1944" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28df9c7e80680e045896jpeg.jpg" alt="">Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18869#.XHywl8AzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Unleashing Kanchenjunga</a>, Anurag Acharya

The power and pull of Pathibhara

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a273b9c7e80680e043a5ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1728" height="1224"/><figcaption>SHOCK AND SADNESS: The body of Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari arrives at Kathmandu Airport on Thursday afternoon. He will be cremated in his hometown of Pokhara.</figcaption></figure>The tragic irony of the helicopter crash on Wednesday was that among the seven dead were a civil aviation minister who was striving to improve Nepal’s air safety record, and the country’s foremost airline executive.Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari was one of the few members of the NCP government with a clean, can-do image. He <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revived the construction of two languishing international airports</a> in Pokhara and<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/boom-time-in-central-terai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Lumbini</a>, improved and removed bottlenecks at Kathmandu airport. He was involved in important air route negotiations and was lobbying to remove Nepal from the EU blacklist. He was set to attend the ITB Berlin next week to promote the Visit Nepal 2020 campaign, for which he had set a target of 2 million tourists.Ang Tshiring Sherpa was the founder of Yeti Airlines and also owned the Air Dynasty helicopter that struck the side of Pathibhara mountain in Taplejung during a snowstorm on 27 February. He was the Nepali partner of Himalaya Airlines, a joint venture with Tibet Airlines and managed hotels in the Khumbu, Gokarna Resort and Kasara in Chitwan.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a273e9c7e80680e043a5fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="990"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/helicopter-carrying-tourism-minister-crashes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Helicopter carrying Tourism Minister crashes</a> <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Nijgad airport will be a game changer” - Rabindra Adhikari</a><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a27409c7e80680e043a60jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="540"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Pilot Prabhakar KC had reportedly radioed Suketar Tower reporting heavy snowfall. Although it is too early to speculate, former CAAN director Triratna Manandhar says having a minister and his own boss among his passengers may have put undue psychological pressure on KC to get them out of the 3,800m mountain top shrine.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a27439c7e80680e043a61jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1365"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Minister Adhikari himself is said to have had misgivings at an earlier airport inspection stop in Tehrathum about the deteriorating weather, and was reluctant to fly to Pathibhara. Eye-witnesses said the Airbus Helicopter H125 crashed 1 minute after taking off in heavy snow, hitting the side of a cliff. Whether it was controlled flight into terrain, or icing on the rotors will have to await an investigation.Adhikari’s hometown of Pokhara is in shock, and the minister was set to be cremated in Kaski on Thursday. The crash has cost the lives of the prime movers of Visit Nepal 2020, and Nepal Tourism Board CEO Deepak Raj Joshi is devastated. He told Nepali Times: “This is an irrecoverable loss, he was devoted to the campaign, and worked tirelessly to improve aviation infrastructure.”It was also a tragic reminder of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12534#.XHfU0MAzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">another disaster 25km away in September 2006</a> in which 24 people were killed when a helicopter hit a  mountain soon after takeoff from Ghunsa in bad weather. Nearly all of Nepal’s conservation pioneers perished, including <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12572#.XHfVK8AzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harka Gurung</a>, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16569#.XHfVSMAzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chandra Gurung</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/fixing-what-aint-broke/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mingma Sherpa</a>, and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10375#.XHfVa8AzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tirthaman Maskey</a>. <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12575#.XHfVscAzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jillian Bowling Schlaepfer and Jennifer Headley of the WWF also died</a>, as did Pauli Mustonen, the Finnish charge d’affaires in Kathmandu (below).<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a27469c7e80680e043a62jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="856"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18587#.XHfUzMAzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Their souls march on</a>, Bhrikuti Rai and Stuti Sharma<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a27489c7e80680e043a63jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1492" height="964">An investigation then had showed that the Russian pilots of the MI-8 were unfamiliar with local terrain and may have been under pressure from the State Minister of Forests Gopal Rai to get back to Kathmandu.- Ramesh Kumar and Gopal Gartaula

The last journey

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a270f9c7e80680e043a4fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="363"/>Update 2: All seven on board (six passengers and one pilot) have been confirmed dead in the Air Dynasty helicopter crash at 1:30 pm today at Sisne Khola area of Pathibhara, Taplejung. Nepal Police has found all seven bodies at the accident site. Only the bodies of Rabindra Adhikari and his aide Yuavaraj Dahal are in an identifiable state.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a27119c7e80680e043a50jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1050" height="657"><figcaption>Crash site. Photo: AP1, TV</figcaption></figure>Update 1:  Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed the accident through a press release, which further notes that Nepal Army and Nepal Police teams have been mobilised for rescue.An air dynasty helicopter carrying Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari among others, is suspected to have crashed in Taplejung, according to Ramkrishna Subedi, spokesperson of Home Ministry.Among the six passengers were minister Adhikari's private secretary Yuvaraj Dahal, Yeti Airlines' director Ang Tshiring Sherpa, and one security personnel. They were headed to Athrai rural municipality at Chuhandanda in Tehrathum to study about a proposed airport.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101152/636a27139c7e80680e043a51jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="378"><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>Police and local residents heard a loud explosion from the accident site in Taplejung which was ablaze with fire. A Simrik Air helicopter from Itahari and another helicopter from Kathmandu have been deputed for rescue and relief, according to Balkrishna Pandit, operations manager of Air dynasty.The Prime Minister's office has called for an emergency meeting with the cabinet after the news broke.

taplejung

Rowing to educate Nepal children

Rowing across the Atlantic to help Nepal schools

Rowing across the Atlantic to help Nepal schools

Remembering Nepal’s conservation heroes

A personal encyclopaedia of the Himalaya

The power and pull of Pathibhara

The last journey

Helicopter carrying Tourism Minister crashes