KATHMANDU: The governm-ent of Nepal has awarded the Sag-armatha Award to late Lieutenant Col-onel James OM Rob-erts, MVO MBE MC, Gurkha officer, reputed mountaineer and founder of Nepal’s first trekking agency, Mountain Travel Ne-pal, part of Tiger Mo-untain Group, acco-rding to a Tiger Mou-ntain press release.

The award was given “in recognition of Jimmy’s pioneering role in the Nepali trekking industry and outstanding promotion of mountain tourism in Nepal.”

The Sagarmatha Award is given annually by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to foreigners who have made significant contributions to Nepal’s development. It carries a cash purse of Rs 100,000. This is to be divided equally between the World Pheasant Association Jimmy Roberts Memorial Fund and the Himalayan Trust. These organisations have been selected as beneficiaries of the award fund as they promote causes close to Roberts’ heart.

Roberts was for many years the Nepal Country Representative of WPA and set up the Pipar Pheasant Sanctuary on his own initiative. The establishment of Mountain Travel Nepal came at difficult time for the Khumbu Sherpas as the passes with Tibet had been closed, barring their trading culture and mountaineering expeditions had been banned causing economic difficulty. Mountain Travel offered new opportunities to them through trekking tourism. By the end of his active climbing life, he had led over 10 expediti-ons, served on countless others and pioneered the majority of present day trekk-ing routes in Nepal.