Nepal honors 9 Sherpas who fixed ropes to Everest summit

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Nepal has celebrated Everest Day by honoring nine Sherpa guides who fixed ropes and dug the route to the summit so hundreds of climbers could scale the world's highest mountain.

Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli praised the men at Sunday's ceremony in Kathmandu, where they were presented with bouquets and given checks for 50,000 rupees ($460).

The nine Sherpas were the first people to reach the summit on May 11. After they fixed the ropes and dug the route, nearly 400 climbers were able to climb the mountain.

The busy climbing season follows two years of disasters on the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) mountain.

Everest Day honors the first successful climb in 1953 by Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay.