Country looking to see more Canadian mountaineers
The Nepal Tourism Board is inviting more mountain-minded Canadians to temporarily place themselves on the very “top of the world,” while adding the Asian nation has plenty of extremely lofty non-Mount Everest opportunities for those of us wanting to experience the literal high life.
Tourism officials visited Toronto in mid-February hoping to attract many more Canadians, including the climbing set, to their country.
The tourist board’s Surya Thapaliya told a recent Toronto presentation that Nepal now sees around 16,000 Canadians a year, only a small fraction of the around 1.2 million foreign tourists his homeland sees annually. It marked a relatively rare visit by Nepalese tourism officials to this country. And only 50 to 60 of the visiting Canadians are climbers, Thapaliya continued, adding his homeland – which has eight of the world’s 14 mountains that top 8,000 meters – “beyond doubt has the most challenging mountains.”
Thapaliya said around 130 Canadians have summited Everest since Calgarian Laurie Skreslet became the first person from this country to reach its summit back in 1982. Many mountains in the Nepalese Himalayas have yet to be climbed, Thapaliya said during his message to “outdoors-loving Canadians.”
“For mountaineers and high-altitude adventurers, Nepal represents the ultimate frontier,” added Bharat Raj Paudyal, Nepal’s ambassador to this country, who also spoke in Toronto. “Around the world, what they call mountains we call hills.”
Thapaliya and Raj Paudyal led a delegation of Nepalese tour companies that were participating in a Toronto outdoor adventure show.
Basu Panday of Nepal Social Treks & Expedition said that people don’t have to climb Himalayan peaks to be dazzled by the world’s highest mountain range.
“The Nepalese Himalayas are truly spectacular. Home to eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks, including Mount Everest, the scale and dramatic beauty of these mountains are breathtaking,” said Panday, who added that simply trekking to Everest Base Camp or elsewhere in the world’s highest mountain range is awe-inspiring in itself.
“Beyond the soaring white peaks, the diversity of the landscapes – ranging from lush rhododendron forests to high-altitude alpine deserts – makes every trek a visually stunning journey.”
Everest is traditionally known in Nepal as Sagarmatha, which Rishi Bhandari of Satori Adventures — who also visited Toronto — said is “believed to be ‘Forehead of the Sky’ or ‘Head of the Sky, a sacred and powerful mountain regarded as a divine, motherly presence that touches the heavens and symbolizes spiritual strength and national pride.”
Raj Paudyal told his Toronto audience that Nepal’s appeal goes beyond mountains, citing the likes of Royal Chitwan National Park, home to jungle that shelters the likes of rhinos and tigers. But tourism officials acknowledge that the likes of Everest and Annapurna and other towering mountains have become the overriding symbols of the country, prompting Thiyabala to state that the Nepalese have a particular reverence for the towering mountains found in their homeland.
“Our mountains will make you humble,” he stated. “There is a sense of pride in climbing the mountains. For us, the mountains are supreme.”
