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Trained rescuers vital for mountain tourism

Wednesday - 28th February 2007

The number of trained high altitude mountain rescuers in Nepal has reached 39 after five more trainees received certificates Tuesday upon the completion of their training conducted between Feb 6 to 23 in the Langtang mountain range in Rasuwa.

The training was conducted by Nepal Mountaineering Instructors' Association (NMIA) in cooperation with the French Embassy, Nepal Mountaineering Association, Yuves Pollet Villard Foundation of France (YPVF), Rescue Association of France GENDARMERIE (CINISAG) France, IFREMONT (France) and Nepal National Mountaineering Guide Association (NNMGA).

"The future of Nepal's mountain tourism is directly linked with the availability of trained high altitude rescuers," said Da Gombu Sherpa, President of Nepal Mountaineering Training Association.

In an apparent reference to previous record of casualties in the high mountains, Sherpa said that on some seasons when there was harsh weather as many as 80 mountaineers have lost their lives.

"Even during normal weather, records reveal that 10-15 mountaineers have lost their lives in a single season," he said.

Of the 39 trained, 23 of them have achieved the skills of working as commanders, five as assistant trainers and 21 as supporters, Sherpa said.

He said that his association was looking forward to set up branch offices for the rescue missions in all the five development regions. The existing trained manpower would be used to train the locals for high altitude rescue missions, he said.

He said that the training was quite expensive and the estimated cost of training a single individual went up to Rs 80,000. Of the total expense, the trainees were required to contribute up to Rs 25,000 in order to avoid unnecessary pressure on the training programme.

The fees are being charged to ensure that irrelevant persons do not come for training just to try a new hobby.

Earlier, French ambassador to Nepal, Michel Jolivet, who is retiring from his services in summer this year said that it was necessary to ensure safe mountaineering if more mountaineers were to be attracted to Nepal.

He said that the French embassy direly felt the need to train as many numbers of high mountain rescuers as possible after some French mountaineers lost their lives at Kangaru and Choyu mountains.

The French government has been organising training programmes to ensure the safety of Nepalese mountains, he said.

The training is the second in a series and the French Embassy along with its partners are looking forward to conduct the training on a regular basis to prepare 100 rescuers by 2009. The partners also envisage to establish a rescue squad in Kathmandu as a headquarter, as well as regional squads in various parts of Nepal.

Two French experts�Bernard Guerin and Dr. Frederic Champly had shared their expertise in training the five mountaineers who received their certificates today. Guerin showed slides that gave a comprehensive picture of the entire training programme.

French Ambassador Jolivet and Da Gombu Sherpa had jointly handed over the certificates to the trainees at a function organised at the French Embassy today.

Padam Ghale had also contributed significantly in the training sessions.

Those who received their certificates today were Karma Gyaljen Sherpa, Krishna Rai. Lal Bahadur Tamang. Lhakpa Tshring Sherpa and Tulsi Gurung.

The first high mountain rescue training was organised in 2006 from 26 Feb to 18 March.


Source Gorkhapatra