Pokhara – In honour of the 75th anniversary of the first ascent of Annapurna (1950) by Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, a commemorative ceremony was held at the International Mountain Museum in Pokhara. The ceremony was jointly organised by Nepal Mountaineering Association and the French Embassy.
The programme included the unveiling of statues of Maurice Herzog, Ang Tharkay Sherpa (sirdar of the 1950 expedition), and Walung Sonam Sherpa (first Nepali to summit Annapurna) by the chief guest, Hon. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Badri Prasad Pandey.
Hon. Bhesh Bahadur Poudel, Minister of Forest and Environment in Gandaki Province, and H.E. Virginie Corteval, French Ambassador, jointly inaugurated and handed over the photo exhibition “Summit of Friendship: 75 Years of Annapurna Ascent”, which was curated by Swaraj Man Chitrakar and supported by the Alliance française.
A special moment of the ceremony was the loan to the International Mountain Museum of Maurice Herzog’s original 1950 ice axe, brought from the Olympic Museum of Lausanne by his son, Mathias Herzog.
The celebration concluded with the unveiling of the cover of the upcoming Nepali translation of Herzog’s seminal book Annapurna : Premier 8000, by Mathias Herzog and Cyril Sonam Sherpa (grandson of Ang Tharkay Sherpa), followed by a vote of thanks from the President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Nima Nuru Sherpa.
On 3 June, anniversary events were also held at Annapurna Base Camp and in Narchyang (Annapurna Rural Municipality) featuring the unveiling of statues of Maurice Herzog, Louis Lachenal, and Walung Sonam Sherpa, the inauguration of the Maurice Herzog Trail, the Annapurna Himalaya Open Museum, and the first Maurice Herzog Annapurna Marathon.
These events were attended by dignitaries including Rt. Hon. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, Hon. Badri Prasad Pandey (Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation), Hon. Kham Bahadur Garbuja (State Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation), Hon. Mitralal Bashyal (Gandaki Province Tourism Minister), Mr. Bishnu Rimal (Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister), the French Ambassador along with leaders from the mountaineering and local communities.
