Peaks to be named Hillary & Tenzing

the Telegraph  4 / 10 / 2013

Nepal to name two Himalayan peaks after Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay

Nepal plans to name two Himalayan peaks after pioneering Mount Everest climbers Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a senior hiking official said, in a move designed to boost tourism in the beautiful but desperately poor country.

New Zealander Hillary and his Nepali guide Tenzing made it to the 29,035-foot (8,850-metre) summit of the world's highest mountain on May 29, 1953 as part of a British expedition, which put Nepal on the map as a destination for adventure tourism.

A government panel has recommended that two unnamed mountains be called Hillary Peak and Tenzing Peak, said Ang Tshering Sherpa, a former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

"This is to honour their contribution to mountaineering in Nepal," Sherpa, who headed the panel, told Reuters.

The two peaks – Hillary's at 25,200ft and Tenzing's at 25,971ft – have never been climbed and are expected to be opened to foreigners in the spring season that starts in March, he said.

Officials hope the peaks will attract more climbers and help boost tourism in Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains. Tourism now accounts for about 4 per cent of the country's economy and employs thousands of people.

In 2010 the New Zealand Geographic Board turned down a submission to name two New Zealand Peaks after Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.