April 14: A total of 84 mountaineering teams have obtained permits to climb mountains and peaks in Nepal for this spring season. These expedition teams have 689 members. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the government collected royalties of over Rs 373 million as of April 13 by issuing the permits.    

The expedition teams obtaining permissions for scaling 19 peaks including Mt Everest comprise people from 65 different countries including Nepal. Among them, 250 climbers including 194 males and 56 females from 45 countries will be attempting to scale the world's highest peak.    

The government has collected royalties worth over Rs 310 million alone from permits issued to the climbers to scale Mt Everest.

The Department of Tourism (DoT) is hopeful that the expedition teams will climb mountains this year as the threat from COVID-19 has declined significantly and the climate is favourble for climbing. It may be noted that 45 expedition teams had climbed mountains in the spring of 2021 amid threat of Covid-19, giving a big boost to the tourism industry battered by the pandemic.   

Tourism entrepreneurs say they are somehow optimistic about the good indicators seen in the tourism sector with the decline in COVID-19 cases.    

Outgoing chair of Nepal Mountaineering Association and noted tourism entrepreneur Aang Chhiring Sherpa said that the number of tourists is rising fradually.

"Although the number of climbers is relatively less this year than the previous year, it seems Nepal's mountain tourism is attracting more foreign climbers and it is indeed a noteworthy. The number is gradually rising," RSS quoted Shrepa as saying.    

How many climbers climbing which peak    

Both Nepali and foreign climbers are continuously setting out for this season's expedition to scale Mt Everest after taking the permit. So far 250 climbers belonging to 31 expedition teams have alone acquired permission for climbing Mt Everest (8848.86 metres).    

Similarly, 64 climbers of nine expedition teams have acquired permission to climb Mt Lhotse (8516 metres), 65 climbers from six teams have taken permission for climbing Mt Amadablam (6814 metres) and 38 mountaineers of five expedition teams have got permission to climb Mt Kanchanjangha (8586 metres).    

Likewise, 38 mountaineers belonging to five groups have taken permission for climbing Mt Nuptse (7855 metres), 26 climbers of four groups have acquired permission to climb Mt Annapurna (8091 metres), two expedition teams have taken permission for climbing Mt Dhaulagiri (8167 metres), two teams for climbing Milung Chuli, and three mountaineering teams for climbing Bhemdong, Gangapurna and Thapa Peak, the Mountaineering Section of the DoT stated in a press release.