“Prakash Dahal and seven others of the Lumbini-Sagarmatha Peace Mission 2012 summitted the mountain at around eight in the morning,” Liaison officer of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation at the Everest Base Camp, Tilak Pandey, said. Team leader Krishna KC, Yuvaraj Dulal, Saral Sahayatri Paudel, Shiva Kumar Dangi, Maheswar Phuyal, Madan Chudal and Beena Magar out of the 10-member team succeeded in their mission.[break]
The expedition had earlier courted controversy after the Baburam Bhattarai government decided to provide Rs 20 million to fund the expedition which Prakash Dahal ultimately refused after widespread condemnation.
With 87 climbing the peak on the last day of this spring, the total number of successful climbers this season reached around 250, according to Pandey. He revealed that over 500 had climbed the 8,848-meter peak last May and the number was well over 250 even in the preceding years. “Last year the ropes were fixed by May 5 but this season it was done only on May 18,” he explained.
He said the weather this year was also not favorable and five/six teams had to cancel their expedition. “Over 50 persons had to return due to poor health while falling of rocks on the trail at different camps also made things difficult,” he added.
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