IANS/Kathmandu

Experts from the mountaineering community have expressed fears that more affluent climbers will use helicopters to scale Mount Everest that could result in the commercialisation of the ascent to the world’s highest peak.
This season Everest would have been deserted if it wasn’t for Wang Jing who has become the first and probably the only climber to reach the summit.
But the achievement of the Chinese woman climber has been overshadowed by controversy because she allegedly used a chopper in negotiating part of the way.
“Wang is a very strong climber but everyone knows she used a helicopter to reach Base Camp 2. There are many other millionaires out there who can afford to use a chopper. If the Nepal government does nothing about it I can’t even imagine what will happen in the future,” Mingma Sherpa, managing director of Seven Summit Treks, told
Xinhua.
Wang Jing, a renowned climber, is also the owner of a multi-million dollar Chinese outdoor clothing firm and author of books on mountaineering.
Madhu Sudan Burlakoti, chief of the industry division of the tourism ministry, said that an investigation is ongoing to find out whether or not the Chinese woman actually used a helicopter to reach a high camp after a deadly avalanche on April 18 made part of the climbing route inaccessible.
Representatives of Fishtail Air, the helicopter company allegedly hired by Wang, declined to comment on the issue. The local media, however, reported that Captain Maurizio Folini of Fishtail Air had told Montagna, an Italian TV channel, on May 15 that he had conducted a flight to carry Wang to Camp 2, adding that he had advised her to avoid the use of chopper in the name of climbing.
Wang, 41, who completed the climb on May 23, denied having used the helicopter to advance up the mountain, but acknowledged having airlifted logistics and support staff.
Experts, however, remained skeptical.
“I don’t think it was possible for her to climb through the Khumbu Icefall as she claims because all the fixed ladders and ropes have been removed,” Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of Nepal Mountaineering
Association, said.
Wang’s expedition to Everest is part of a world record attempt to climb the highest peaks on the seven continents in six months. Wang is supposed to collect her certificate from the Nepal government on June 16 but following the controversy a question mark hangs over her
achievement.
“As per mountaineering ethics, summiting Mt Everest means climbing from Base Camp - on foot - to the top of the mountain. If she used a helicopter, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation will not recognise her feat,” Ang Tshering Sherpa, who has worked in the mountaineering industry for the last 42 years, said.
Nepal allows the use of helicopters above Everest base camp, located at about 5,400m, but only for emergency rescues or to transport equipment.
In the days following the avalanche that killed 16 Sherpas and that resulted in the calling off of more than 15 expeditions with about 300 clients, many in the Everest mountaineering community had discussed the possibility of using helicopters to ferry supplies over the icefall to reduce risks.
On May 14, 2005, test pilot Didier Delsalle, 48, of the French company Eurocopter, made aviation history when he landed a turbo engine AS350 B3 helicopter on the world’s tallest mountain top. His solo flight broke the unofficial record for highest helicopter landing, but even on that occasion some climbers expressed their disapproval.
The investigation into Wang’s ascent is still ongoing and is expected to be finished within the next few weeks with the mountaineering community anxiously awaiting the result.