25 mountains successfully climbed this autumn

KATHMANDU, Jan 16: According to the Department of Tourism (DoT), a total of 25 mountains were successfully summitted by 535 mountaineers this autumn.

The government had issued permission to ascend 53 mountains including Mt Everest, the highest peak in the world; of which climbers had successfully scaled 25 mountains. The government has collected Rs 65.7 million from mountaineering royalty for the autumn season. “The royalty earned this year is approximately Rs 10 million more than last year's,” said Rameshwor Niroula, non-gazetted first class officer at the DoT.

Niroula said the number of climbers is in the increasing trend every year in general. “But this particular year, Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign might have contributed to the increment,” Niroula told Republica, adding: “The impact is evident in this year's winter expedition. People are attempting to climb Mt Everest which is very rare during winter season.” Similarly, Surendra Thapa, director at the DoT said that the inflow of mountaineers in Nepal has been increasing over the years.

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According to Niroula, mountaineers go for Mt Amadablam and Mt Manaslu during the autumn season whereas spring season is deemed suitable for ascending Mt Everest. “This is how the trend goes because of suitability of climate during different seasons,” he said.

The department states that though the teams attempting to climb Mt Amadablam is considerably small this year, the overall number of climbers seems to be above average.

The department had permitted 1,210 members to attempt the scaling of different mountains for the autumn season. 417 male and 118 female members had successfully climbed the mountains, according to a data compiled by the department. 188 climbers had ascended Mt Manaslu (8,163m) followed by Mt Amadablam (6,814m) with 181 successful climbers.

For the winter season, the government has already collected over Rs 1.68 million as royalty from mountaineers for expeditions to different mountains. “Two teams were issued the permit to climb Mt Amadablam on Wednesday,” Niroula added.

The government has opened 414 peaks for mountaineering in Nepal, of which 86 remain unclimbed, according to the department.