Kathmandu, May 27: A sherpa from the 1953 expedition of Mount Everest led a colourful procession of hundreds of climbers and their fans today as the nepalese capital began celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the conquest of the world's tallest mountain. Dyalzen Sherpa, the only surviving sherpa from the 1953 expedition, was joined by Sir Edmund Hillary and his wife, June, as he climbed into the lead carriage.

Sherpa, 85, put his hands together, nodded to Hillary and June and put a yellow scarf around their neck.

"I am happy. It's wonderful," said Hillary as the procession of horse-drawn carriages, carrying some the famous everesters, set off through the tune of dance and children waving flags.
"It's an honour bestowed on my father and Hillary," said Jamlin Norgay, son of late Tenzing Norgay, who shared the honour with Hillary for the first ever scaling of the 8,850-meter summit.

"It's a historic moment for Nepal. And I feel it's being done in the right way," said Norgay as he rode the second carriage, which also had Junko Tabei from Japan, the first woman to climb Everest.


Close behind them on foot were hundreds of other climbers and their fans.
There are more than 1,300 climbers who have scaled the summit in the past 50 years. Two-thirds of them are believed to be still alive.

Organisers of the celebrations said they were expecting between 200-300 climbers to join the festivities that will last through the week.

Bureau Report