Manang: The ‘Ice Climbing Festival’ will promote Visit Nepal Year-2020 in February at the Manang Ngisyang Rural Municipality-4 of Manang district.
The festival will take place on the snow and ice rocks in Humde region, at the altitude of 3,200 metres above sea level, in Annapurna range from February 1 to 10. According to the organizer, Mr. Santa Bir Lama, President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), said that a total of 45 domestic and international tourists will compete in the adventure game at the festival.
The Ice Climbing Festival will be co-sponsored and managed by Nepal Climbing Team (NCT), a non-profit organization founded by mountaineers in Nepal to promote Nepal as a destination for adventure sports including ice climbing, rock climbing and sport climbing.
According to NCT Chief Executive Director, Mr. Vinayak Jay Malla participants would climb the snowy rocks at a temperature between -15°C to -20°C during the second festival. He added the festival will include ice climbing course, photography exhibition, screening of adventure films and a showcase of local traditional culture.
Nepal National Mountain Guides Association (NNMGA) and Nepal Mountaineering Instructors Association (NMIA) will oversee the technical management of the festival.
Malla said that snow climbing can be done in more than 15 waterfalls in Humde region. The height of waterfalls which are suitable for climbing ranges between 500 m to 1,000 m and are elevated at the angle between 60° and 100° in Mt Annapurna II and Mt Annapurna III. There are waterfalls with grades between WI3 to WI5 in the region. According to Malla, the ice climbing can be done from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm with the temperatures varying between -15°C and -60°C.
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation took the responsibility of promoting the 10-day festival organized with the financial support of the Secretariat for the Visit Nepal Year-2020.
Source: THT
