September 2: The Department of Tourism has granted permission to the citizens of 34 countries to climb mountain peaks during the autumn season. According to the department, a total of 167 climbers have been granted permission to climb six different peaks including Mount Everest as of August 31.

The climbers have been issued permits to scale Mt Everest, Dhaulagiri, Himlung, Manaslu, Nuptse and Saribung, informed the department.

The government has collected royalties worth Rs 21.3 million so far from issuing climbing permits this season.

Altogether 19 expedition teams have acquired permits so far. Most of the climbers will be scaling Mt Manaslu this season. A total of 114 climbers from 14 expedition teams have been issued permits to climb Manaslu. Among them, 117 are male and 31 are female climbers.

Meanwhile, only five climbers including a woman have taken permission to climb Mt Everest in the autumn season. Mostly, climbers in large number scale the world’s highest peak during the spring season.

Most of the climbers who took permission to climb the mountains are from the  USA. A total of 33 climbers from the USA have taken permission to climb the peaks this season. Argentina ranks second with 16 climbers being issued climbing permits followed by Spain (12), China (11), India (11) and the UAE (10).

Similarly, climbers from Bangladesh, France, Japan, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, Morocco, Poland, Canada and Australia have also been granted climbing permits.

The number of tourists visiting Nepal has increased in recent days.