Spring expeditions in figures    

Peaks

Teams

Climbers

Mt Everest

29

255

Mt Lhotse

3

19

Mt Dhaulagiri

1

12

Mt Manaslu

1

3

Mt Nuptse

4

22

Others

7

81

   

Kathmandu, April 2

With the world’s climbers acclimatising in the Khumbu region to prepare for the summit push of the world’s highest peak in the spring climbing season, the department of tourism will be setting up a contact office at the base camp. The department will depute officials to Everest base camp in the next couple of weeks. There will be two representatives each from Nepali Army and Nepal Police, DoT officer Rajendra Shrestha said, adding that the department had allocated one million rupees to run the base camp office. “Base camp officials will facilitate world climbers,” he said. The department is also planning to strictly monitor the activities of liaison officers to see whether or not they facilitate expedition members up to the base camp. Gyanendra Shrestha, an official at DoT informed that more than 400 climbers applied for permits to climb different mountains this season while DoT has issued permits to 29 teams comprising 255 mountaineers for Mt Everest till date. “The number of climbers attempting to climb Mt Everest could reach 300 by April second week,” he informed. According to expedition organisers, most of the teams have already started to put up tents by carrying logistics and other climbing equipment to the base camp. “The base camp is almost prepared to host diversified climbers as Mt Everest connects the world,” Pasang Sherpa, a base camp worker said over phone. The stakeholders said they were committed to revive the mountaineering business, which was worst hit by multiple disasters in the last two years. According to Damber Parajuli, president of Expedition Operators Association of Nepal, DoT has been requested to allow the use of choppers to ferry climbing equipment and logistics to Camp I as the move will reduce movement in the treacherous section of the climbing route. The DoT has also initiated necessary process to allow at least six chartered flights up to Camp I to minimise risk at the icefall section. Gelje Sherpa, an icefall doctor, told this daily over phone that the climbing route up to Camp I was almost constructed. Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee has mobilised a team of eight icefall doctors to fix the route up to Camp II.