Sherpa 'strips' atop Everest
27/05/2006 18:54  - (SA)  

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Kathmandu - The head of the Nepal Mountaineering Association has urged the Nepali government to take action against a sherpa who reportedly stripped off on top of Mount Everest.

The Himalayan Times reported on Friday that the Nepali climbing guide, whose name it gave as Lakpa Tharke, stood naked for three minutes in freezing conditions on the 8 850m summit of the world's highest peak.

If confirmed, he would be the first person known to have stripped atop Everest, considered by Nepali Buddhists as a god.

On Saturday, Ang Tshering Sherpa, head of Nepal's top mountaineering body, said he could not confirm that the incident had happened.

"But if he did it, it is very shocking because Sagarmatha is the goddess mother," he said. "The government must enforce strict ethics for climbing."

Authorities have yet to comment.

But the climb's organisers seemed happy enough with Lakpa Thaeke's strip.

"We are planning to file his extraordinary feat for the Guinness Book of World Records," said an official of the hiking group that employs Tharke.

Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest.

At least 1 345 people have climbed Everest since 1953.

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