May 7: With the opening of mountain climbing season for spring, 466 mountaineers have reached the base camp of Mount Everest. The climbers who are currently practicing for mountain climbing will leave the base camp for the summit of Mount Everest after one week.

According to the Department of Tourism, if the weather is not unfavorable, the climbers will start climbing after eight days.

Yuvraj Khatiwada, director of the mountaineering branch of the department, said that the department has intensified the work of appointing liaison officers and facilitations for the climbers. According to him, the number of climbers who have reached the base camp of Everest currently is 466, Lhotse is 110 and Nuptse is 70.

He said that if the weather is favorable, the routes to the camps above the base camp will be fixed from Sunday and Monday.

 “The liaison officers are already at the base camp. This time, it will be more convenient as the liaison office of the monitoring committee is established at the base camp of Mount Everest,” said Khatiwada.

After the government started issuing permits for this season, 1,079 people received permits to climb various mountains and peaks including Everest.

A certain time is fixed for climbing depending on the mountain and height. There is a provision that climbing Everest must be completed within 75 days after receiving the permit. The department so far has issued permits for climbing 24 mountains and peaks. The mountains and peaks for which permits are issued are above 6,000 meters. According to the department, after the Covid-19 pandemic, this is the maximum number of climbers obtaining climbing permits this season.

The department so far has collected a royalties worth Rs 739.7 million by issuing mountain climbing permits. Out of that, Everest alone has contributed Rs 655.5 million. After this, the mountain with the highest revenue is Lhotse for generating Rs 28.3 million by issuing permits to 126 climbers. Similarly, 58 people have taken permission to climb Makalu, generating a revenue of Rs 13.6 million.

According to the latest data of the department, mountaineers from 80 countries have taken permission to climb the mountains this season.  Among the climbers, 252 are female. According to the department, most of the climbers are Americans. The department informed that the number of American climbers is 163, Chinese climbers is 113 and Indian climbers is 90.