NEPAL: On the eve of the 50th anniversary of his historic conquest of Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary complained that legions of modern-day climbers were holding drunken parties at base camp and then scrambling to the summit on fixed ropes and ladders.
"I have always felt the great moments on Everest were the moments when one was meeting challenges - climbing by yourself over the Lhotse icefall, up on the south-east ridge, battling against wind and weather," he said yesterday in Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital.
"Just sitting around in a big base camp, knocking back cans of beer, I don't particularly regard as mountaineering."
As he spoke, a Russian-built MI-17 helicopter operated by Simrik Air, a Nepal company, with nine people aboard crashed about 100 yards from the Everest base camp, located at 17,380 feet. A BBC correspondent at the scene reported three deaths. A Nepalese official said two were killed.
The leader of the Irish Everest Expedition, Pat Falvey, said that some of his team had a "very lucky escape". Some had been using the same aircraft the day before.
"Only that I insisted that it return for them on Tuesday, they might have actually been waiting to travel on it yesterday morning," Falvey said.
The Irish expedition is due back in Ireland next Wednesday, and three members of a Northern Irish expedition are still on the north side of the mountain.
They intend to try for the summit in several days' time if weather permits.
The helicopter accident came as the queen, whose coronation was capped by the British expedition's success on the mountain, sent greetings to the king of Nepal.
In the past few days Sir Edmund, now 83, has been lauded as a hero in Kathmandu.
At his news conference he said he appreciated his warm welcome in Nepal as well as the worldwide interest in his feat.
However, the legendary New Zealander voiced concerns about the future of Everest, which he wants closed to new expeditionsOn the eve of the 50th anniversary of his historic conquest of Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary complained that legions of modern-day climbers were holding drunken parties at base camp and then scrambling to the summit on fixed ropes and ladders. - (AP)