Business

DoT issues 395 climbing permits for autumn climbing season

By HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 22, 2016 file photo, trekkers pass through a glacier at the Mount Everest base camp, Nepal. Photo: AP

KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 25

A total of 395 mountaineers have received climbing permits to scale 19 mountains this autumn season, accumulating a total of over Rs 39 million in royalties for the Department of Tourism (DoT).

As many as 311 male and 84 female climbers are set to scale various mountains across the country this autumn. Of the total royalties, over Rs 34 million was collected from issuing permits to Mt Manaslu (8,163 metres) alone.

As of Sunday, the DoT had issued 301 permits for Mt Manaslu; 23 for Mt Dhaulagiri (8,167 metres); 10 for Mt Amadablam (6,814 metres); eight for Barun Tse (7,129 metres), five each for Putha Hiunchuli (7,246 metres), Kumbhakarna (7,711 metres), Pumori (7,138 metres), Lingtren (6,713 metres), and Cho Oyu (8,188 metres), among others.

Of the total climbers, 67 climbers are from China, 36 from Russia, 34 from the US, 24 from India, 23 from Japan, 20 each from France and Germany, 17 from Spain, 15 from UK, 14 from Canada, 13 from Iran, 12 from Switzerland, among other countries.

In the autumn season of the last fiscal year, the DoT had issued permits to 506 climbers from 65 countries to scale 15 mountains across the country.

That same year, 404 permits were issues just for Mt Manaslu, accumulating Rs 46 million in royalties out of total collection of over Rs 55 million.

The autumn climbing season in Nepal runs from September to November.

A version of this article appears in the print on September 26, 2023, of The Himalayan Times