KATHMANDU, AUGUST 22
The Department of Tourism (DoT) collected more than Rs 583 million from issuing 2,427 climbing permits in 2022.
According to Mountaineering Facts and Figures 2023 published by DoT, a total of Rs 93.10 million was collected from issuing permits to 1,441 climbers during autumn climbing season, while Rs 490.37 million was collected from issuing permits to 986 climbers in the spring climbing seasonlast year. The prices of climbing permits are much higher during the spring season.
A total of 1,883 male and 544 female climbers sought permission to scale the country's peaks in 2022. Of them, a total of 763 permits were issued for Mt Sagarmatha (8,848.86 metres) alone but only 603 of them were recorded as successful summits.
Similarly, 149 permits were issued for Mt Kanchenjunga (8,586 metres), 309 for Lhotse (8,516 metres), 106 for Mt Makalu (8,463 metres), 27 for Cho Oyu (8,188 metres), 133 for Mt Dhaulagiri (8,167 metres), 847 Mt Manaslu (8,163 metres), and 48 for Annapurna I (8,091 metres), among other peaks and mountains across the country.
As of 2022, a total of 7,626 people have climbed Mt Sagarmatha since Tenzin Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary scaled the highest point of the world for the first time on May 29, 1953.
Likewise, a total of 551 successful summits have been recorded on Mt Kanchenjunga, 1,021 on Mt Lhotse, 673 on Mt Makalu, 14 on Cho Oyu, 638 on Mt Dhaulagiri, 2,716 on Mt Manaslu, and 407 on Annuparna I as of 2022.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,176 mountaineers received climbing permits to scale 28 mountains as of May 14, 2023, accumulating a total of more than Rs 765 million in royalties to the Department of Tourism (DoT).
The government is also preparing to amend the Tourism Act 1978. According to officials, discussions are underway to increase the price of climbing permits from 2025.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 23, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
