Year 2009 was special for Explore Himalaya, as the company single handedly organized the highest skydiving programme in the world, Everest skydive 2009. ESD 2009 was organized in the month of October. Wendy Smith from New Zealand, Tom Noonan from USA and Jai Kishan from India created a new record by landing at Gorakh Shep, Kala Patthar plateau (17,192ft), the highest drop zone in the world.

Everest emerged as a clear favorite among our trekking clients as EH organized treks to the Everest regionfor 43 groups in 2009. 20 groups trekked to the Annapurnas, while 5 groups preferred the less crowded trails of Langtang. 39 groups went for cultural tours and multi-activity sports like rafting, paragliding, mountain biking etc.

We operated a total of 59 tours (cultural & pilgrimage tours, trekking, expeditions) in Tibet and 4 in Bhutan.

List of 2009 Expeditions

This article on Heli Trekking with Fishtail Air / Explore Himalaya was published in the November 2009 issue of TravelTimes magazine.

Text by Usha Rai
Photos by Fishtail Air

Download the full article in PDF format here

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‘The Wildest Dream’ – Retracing Mallory & Irvine’s Everest Adventure

The film ‘The Wildest Dream,’ directed by Anthony Geffen which retraces George Mallory’s final Adventure to Mt Everest will be releasing in theaters in 2010.

The movie explores Mallory’s obsession with becoming the first person to reach the world’s highest peak and is relayed through the explorer’s poignant and evocative letters to his wife, Ruth, previously unseen photos and film archive from 1924 (restored from the original nitrate especially for the film), dramatization and a modern-day expedition retracing the original route taken in 1924. The expedition was led by renowned mountaineer Conrad Anker, who discovered Mallory’s dead remains on Everest in 1999.

In order to film the climbing scenes, Conrad Anker and his team went to Everest North – side, late in the spring of 2007 when other expedition groups had already departed. Anker, starring as Mallory and Leo Houlding as Irvine shot the climbing scenes wearing 1920s clothes, similar to the ones worn by the legendary climbers .

‘The Wildest Dream’ is narrated by Liam Neeson and features the voices of Ralph Fiennes as George Mallory, the late Natasha Richardson as Ruth Mallory, Hugh Dancy as Mallory’s fellow climber Sandy Irvine and Alan Rickman as Noel Odell, the last person to see Mallory alive.

National Geographic Entertainment (NGE) has acquired the distribution rights of the film.

Buaya Travel from Indonesia joins Asian Connections
Dec11th: Buaya Travel from Indonesia has joined Asian Connections, an alliance of Asia’s leading independent inbound travel operators. Explore Himalaya and rest of the alliance partners extend a warm welcome to Mr. Renato & Buaya Travel and hopes for a fruitful and enriching business partnership.

Summiteers from Nepal and around the globe, in full summit gear, are going to march on the streets of Copenhagen today with the slogan ‘Summiteers’ Summit to Save the Himalayas’. The march has been organized to celebrate the ‘International Mountain Day’ as well as to draw global attention to the impact of climate change in the Himalayas. Five ministers from Nepal and the Danish foreign minister will also participate in the march.Other programs include cultural shows by a Sherpa group from the Everest region and a Danish band, time-series photo exhibition, and documentaries and issuing of the ‘Save the Himalayas’ declaration. It is estimated that about 600 Nepalis including the government delegates, journalists and experts representing various national and international organizations are participating in the summit.

Nepalese cabinet ministers held a special cabinet meeting at Kala Patthar (17,192 ft) plateau, at the base of Mt. Everest on December 4, 2009. Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and 23 other ministers were flown by helicopters for the meeting. During the meeting, a 10-point ‘Everest Declaration’ which calls for concerted actions to minimize adverse effects of climate change in the Himalayan region was released. The meeting, which cost almost NRS 6 million to organize, was funded by private agencies and organizations from the tourism sector. Mr. Suman Pandey, Planning & Operation Coordinator of the event, said that organizing the meeting at such a high altitude was a big achievement.

Sherpas from the Khumbu region dressed in traditional attire, welcome the Ministers at Gorakh Shep, EBC

MoTCA Minister Sarat Singh Bhandari reads something as the rest of the ministers pose for a group photograph

Mr. Suman Pandey- Planning & Operation coordinator of the event (wearing red & black jacket)

A walk to rememeber - Ministers walk down the Kala Patthar Plateau

PM Nepal wearing an oxygen mask

The Highest Cabinet Meeting in progress – At Kala Patthar Plateau (17,192 ft/5242m)

Photos: Gorakh Bista

Situated in the Khumbu or Everest region of eastern Nepal, Kala Patthar is a rocky brown hill a few distance away from Gorakh Shep, EBC. Kala Patthar offers close views of the mighty Mt. Everest, Pumori Peak, Lhotse, Nuptse, Ama Dablam and other Himalayan giants.

There is a flat ground or plateau lying at an elevation of 17,982 feet/ 5,242m, which serves as an ideal place for helicopters to land. This is where our skydivers made the highest skydive landing in October this year and where the historic cabinet meeting was held today.

Google Map showing Mt.Everest, Kala Patthar & Gorakh Shep

A glacial lake below Kala Patthar

Kala Patthar Plateau- Site of the historic Cabinet Meeting

Mesmerizing views of Ama Dablam peak- Enroute to Gorakh Shep EBC

Ten years before, this place used to covered with snow year round, according to locals – An impact of global warming on our Mountain Environment

White snowy peaks are transformed into rocky bare pinnacles – An effect of climate change

(Photos: Explore Himalaya)

The historic cabinet meeting at Kala Patthar(17,192 ft) plateau , at the base of Mt. Everest concluded successfully with the release of a 10-point ‘Everest declaration’ which calls for concerted actions to minimize adverse effects of climate change in the Himalayan region.The meeting which was organised to draw global attention towards the affect of climate change on the Himalayan glaciers, began at 9:30 AM and was attended by Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and 23 ministers. The cabinet also decided to extend the territories of Api-Nampa conservation area in Darchula, Gauri Shankar conservation area in Ramechhap and Dolakha and Bardiya National Park. A new national park Banke National Park, was also added.

According to figures released by Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), visitor arrivals in the month of November have increased by 8% to 39,784 compared to the same month last year .This is the sixth consecutive month Nepal has witnessed positive growth in the international tourist arrivals, according to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

Arrivals from China & India posted a robust growth of 68.4% and 16.1% , as also arrivals from Singapore and South Korea , which registered a positive growth by 38.4% and 34.1% respectively. In aggregate visitors from Asia showed a growth of 20.2%.

From the European market, arrivals from Belgium, Sweden, Israel, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands went up by 38.3%, 27.9%, 16.7%, 2.1%, 30.5% and 8% respectively. Tourist arrivals from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and USA have also registered robust growth of 27.8%, 14.8% and 3.8% respectively.

9444 foreign nationals and 96 SAARC nationals entered Annapurna Conservation Areas in November 2009. 211 foreign nationals entered Manaslu Conservation Area in November 2009.