KATHMANDU, JUNE 6

To mark the 100th anniversary of the 1924 Everest Expedition, the British Embassy hosted an event highlighting the historical ties between Nepal and the UK in tourism and mountaineering, on Wednesday.

The Embassy featured a photo exhibition titled "The Fight for Everest 1924," which was initially displayed at the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) last week alongside the documentary "Everest Revisited." The collection is set to be permanently displayed at the International Mountain Museum (IMM) in Pokhara.

Speaking at the event, Rob Fenn, UK Ambassador to Nepal, commented that, although the 1924 expedition had not come to Kathmandu, Nepalis played an important role in it and "have continued be to be pivotal in Everest attempts since." He added that "Britons are besotted with raw courage". "It's what has been drawing us to Nepal and to Nepalis for more than two hundred years".

Ambassador Fenn shared news announced in the UK in December, that Nepalis are now eligible to apply for expedition funding from the UK-based Mount Everest Foundation (www.mef.org.uk/news/mef-opens-grants-to-nepali-applicants). Since its inception in 1955, the MEF has provided funds to over 2,000 expeditions in remote locations and to scientists researching high-altitude medicine, glaciology and climate change.

John Porter, Director and Producer of "Everest Revisited" and MEF's Honorary Secretary said "It is an honour to represent the Chair of the Mount Everest Foundation, Rebecca Stephens, the first British woman to climb Everest, at this reciprocation of the event hosted by His Excellency Gyan Chandra Acharya at the Embassy of Nepal in London on the International Day of the Mountains last December".

Porter was also representing the Alpine Club, as associate curator of the exhibition. "Alpine Club member, Ian Wall, created this superb exhibition with the financial support of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. I am looking forward to seeing it reach its permanent home in Pokhara on 8 June. One hundred years on from the 1924 Exhibition, The Royal Geographical Society and Alpine Club are delighted they have been able to work together on this exhibition as they did on the expeditions in the 1920s".

The change in funding criteria reflects helps mark the next chapter of the Britain-Nepal mountaineering story. Ambassador Fenn and guests from the Nepali and international tourism, trekking, and climbing sectors congratulated MEF for making this change.