Kathmandu, April 21:

Mudita Bajracharya of The Himalayan Times won the National Open Media House Wall Climbing Competition 2007, organised by Pasang Lhamu Mountaineering Foundation (PLMF) to mark the 14th anniversary of Pasang Lhamu Sherpa’s successful ascent on top of the Mt Everest.

Bajracharya scaled the wall in one minute and 52 seconds, ahead of Dolma Sherpa of Nepal Television and Mandira Maharjan of National Broadcasting on Saturday.

In men’s section, Dhan Bahadur Khadka of Chalphal Weekly finished first in 53 seconds, followed by Dev Bahadur Kunwar of Gorkhapatra Daily (1 minute 21 seconds) and Ashok Kumar Rai of Annapurna Post (1 minute 41 seconds).

A total of 36 media personnel — 23 male and 13 female — from various media houses participated in the one-day competition. The winners will be given away the awards on April 23, the ‘14th Pasang Lhamu Memorial Day’, the day when she successfully reached the summit of the world’s highest peak and set a record of being the first Nepali woman on top of the Mt Everest.

Earlier, Bishnu Nisthuri, president of Federation of Nepalese Journalists, inaugurated the competition. “The national luminary Pasang Lhamu Sherpa — an icon of courage and pride — should always be remembered through creative activities,” said Nisthuri. He expressed gratitude to PLMF for giving an opportunity to the journalists as part of celebrating the occasion in a creative way. Speaking on the occasion, Prof Dr Ramesh Raj Kunwar, president of PLMF, said that the media personnel’s participation in the event was a historic one, which would be given continuity in the future and would serve for the promotion and development of mountaineering.