May 9: The spring season is favourable for mountain climbing in Nepal. During this season, the nation welcomes a noticeable number of aspiring climbers from across the globe for expeditions to Mount Everest and other various peaks.    
People from 80 countries including Nepal took permissions from the Department of Tourism for climbing Nepal's peaks including Mt Everest during this spring season. Among them, citizens from 65 countries acquired permits for Everest expedition.    
The Mountaineering Section of the department said that revenue of over Rs 740 million has been collected so far from the expedition permit fees in this spring. The permission for Mt Everest alone contributed Rs 650 million followed by Rs 28.3 million from Lhotse and Rs 13.6 from Makalu expedition.    
Section Officer Bigyan Koirala said that the permits issued for climbing Everest were the highest ever and the revenue collection has also increased. Nepal is home to eight peaks of above 8,000 meters in the world.    
Koirala said 467 people of 44 expedition teams obtained permission for climbing Mt Everest as of May 8. This figure is likely to go up slightly as the department expects a few more permits to be issued by Wednesday. Almost all aspiring climbers have already arrived. They are in the Everest Base Camp and Camp 2 waiting for favourable conditions to set out for their journey to the peak of Everest.    
Icefall doctors have already fixed a route to Camp 4 of Everest. -- RSS