Cold in the queue
Last week 274 people each paid R280,000 to stand in a cold queue. They were among the record number to have summited Mount Everest in a single day. Two climbers died in the queue, bringing the number of deaths this year to five. Nepalese authorities have tried to ease the congestion, introducing tighter controls and higher fees to discourage inexperienced climbers. British climber Kenton Cool was not among the latter. He broke his own record (for a non-Sherpa) by summiting for the 20th time.
Home for gnome
Garden gnomes made a comeback this year. For only the second time in its 113-year history, the Royal Horticultural Society lifted its gnome ban at the Chelsea Flower Show. The whimsical statues made a special return to help raise funds for a campaign that encourages children to appreciate gardens.
Musketeer’s bones?
People in the Dutch village of Wolder have exhumed a skeleton they believe belongs to a European folk hero. The bones are being tested and if the villagers are proved right, it could be a huge tourist attraction. They claim the remains are those of D’Artagnan — real name Charles de Batz de Castelmore — who served under France’s King Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard and was immortalised in Alexandre Dumas’s story.
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