KATHMANDU: Nepal is celebrating Mt Everest Day today in memory of the first summit of the Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953. Mt Everest Day is celebrated on May 29 every year to commemorate the first two summiteers.

The day, which is also a significant occasion for promotion of Nepal's mountain tourism, is celebrated with special events.

Various memorial events are organised, processions carried out to celebrate this day in the capital and the Everest region today. Observation of Everest Day is expected to accelerate promotion of Nepal’s tourism, mountain tourism in particular.

Like previous years, Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon was organised today to mark Mt Everest Day.

Last year, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari, who was killed in an aviation-accident earlier this year, had reached the Khumbu valley to cheer the marathon runners and to promote the event.

Suman Khulung finished the Everest Marathon as the winner this year while Kapilder Buda and Ram Kumar Raj Bhandari occupied the second and third places.