Four Nepali women climb Annapurna IV

Four Nepali women successfully climbed Annapurna IV on Tuesday morning. This is the first time that any Nepali woman has climbed Annapurna IV.

According to Lucky Karki of Nepali Women´s Climbers Committee, Nima Rai (30) and Shantikala Rai (29) of Solukhumbu, Minu Gurung (24) of Morang and Saraswati BK (27) of Pokhara climbed the 7,525 meter peak. 

"The ladies ascended the peak at 5:15 am on Tuesday morning," said Karki, "We are very proud of the ladies who have been able to make a name for themselves and Nepali women climbers." Karki was informed about the success by Tendi Sherpa, trainer and team leader of the climbers.

A press statement released by the committee states that the women started climbing at 1 am on Tuesday from Camp 4 at 6,800 meters to reach the summit at 5:15 am.

Karki informed that the climbers had spent approximately 10 minutes at the summit. They are scheduled to reach the Base Camp by Thursday morning. The climbers started their climb from Sabechi River in the south face in Manang´s Humde. They had left Pokhara for the mountain on May 5.

On May 11, the climbers´ team set camp at 4200 meters to acclimatize themselves and started climbing from May 15. However, they had to descend from Camp 4 on May 22 due to bad weather. They finally started their climb on May 27 when the weather stabilized.

"I am very proud that the women I groomed were able to do this," said Karki. The climbers were trained by Three Sisters Agency owned by Karki.

However, team leader Sherpa and guide Dorje Sherpa incurred minor injuries in an avalanche while they were descending from the summit.

"Since Sherpa was leading the team down the summit, he was slightly hurt because of the avalanche," informed Shrikant Khatiwada, secretary of the committee. The avalanche disbanded the team for more than one hour as they lost all communication for that period. "When we heard the news of the roll down from Sherpa we were all worried about the team´s safety," says Katiwada, "It was relieving to know that they were all safe."

Tourism entrepreneurs believe that this news will aid in further promotion of the Annapurana Area especially because the country is celebrating Nepal Tourism Year 2011.