Adventure tourism: Nepal’s potentials

Nepal has a great potential to develop and explore the possibilities found in Ski-Mountaineering and popularize these activities in a vastly expanding market of adventure activities. As an adventure sport skiing is an internationally popular sector

In a small geographical location, there lies multifold majestic snowcapped mountains, diverse in natural resources, wildlife and flora and fauna. Geographical variation from lowest point of 57 m to world’s highest point 8,848 m makes Nepal a naturally diverse country. The mountain activities such as peak climbing, expedition and trekking started in 1953 at a first glance by the successful summit of Mt. Everest. However the mountaineering activities were properly developed from 1970 onward which has made Nepal true adventure capital of the world.

Consequently Nepal has become a dream land for adventurous people from all over the world. Now climbing Mt Everest is the ultimate life adventure and reaching the summit would be the journey’s goal.

Recently there are lots of things that have been explored like Ski-Mountaineering, Sky-Dive, Mountain Bike and Marathon which have made Nepal an adventure hub around the world.

Expedition and trekking are popular activities within and in demand of adventure tourism in Nepal. As a Himalayan country and home land of Sherpa community, the mountain climbing businesses are increasing day by day.

Thousands of tourists from different parts of the world visit Nepal for mountaineering activities each year. Also the expedition and peak climbing is divided in different categories with the height of mountain, like above 8000m, above 7000m and 6000m. There are some technically difficult mountains and some are really easy mountains. The cultural diversity, majestic forest with full of flora and fauna, rivers, lake and waterfalls make Nepal the world’s amazing country. Annapurna Circuit Trek, Everest Base Camp Trek, Kanchenjunga Trek and Langtang Trek are some of the best trekking routes.

Also The Great Himalayan Trail (4,500-km) has recently been explored and developed and it is also popular which encompass Bhutan, Nepal, India and Pakistan. The longest about 1,700-km and most attractive part of the trail is situated in Nepal. It offers best experiences on Himalayan. The lifestyle of Himalayan communities, natural resources and beautiful mountain view are basic features of the trail.

Climbing the highest mountain on foot and coming down by skiing is the best way to get thrills and adventure. For professional skiers, there is no thrill beyond skiing off-piste in the Himalayas. Such ski packages make Nepal a year round tourist destination.

In the present context trekking packages mainly run through October to December, most of the tourists visit Nepal in these three months. If we run Ski packages after December to April it will promote winter tourism in Nepal, because of snowing condition within the trekking areas.

Thus ski packages could play a big role to make year-round tourist destinations, which can contribute to increase national revenue and job opportunities. Since 2011, Himalayan Ski Trek is organizing Winter Ski Festival once a year every December to educate and promote ski-mountaineering in Nepal.

With the vision to promote and flourish Ski-Mountaineering in Nepal, the organization is motivated to explore the prospect of skiing in Nepal. According to the research of Himalayan Ski Trek, Mera Peak, Yala Peak, Annapurna Base Camp, Langtang Region, Mt. Dhaulagiri, Mt. Manaslu and Dolpa Region are some of the best places for skiing in Nepal.

Similarly, Nepal has huge potential in Ski-Dive. It is one of the most life challenging adventures in the world. Sky-diving with viewing world’s highest mountain could be unique and best experience for every adventure lover.

The Everest region, Syangboche and Pokhara are some of the best places. Also there are many areas with best possibilities of Sky-Dive, which are still remote. Sky-Dive in the Everest region could be the best adventurous packages throughout the world. And paragliding is another adventurous part of tourism, an already explored and well developed in Pokhara.

Many foreigners and domestic tourists have benefited to date. Paragliding with a beautiful view of mountain is best experienced among the other regions of the world.

Also we can run different kinds of paragliding packages to make much more adventurous and different experiences.

Among the above adventure sports, Nepal has big prospect of mountain bike. Due to geographical situation, mountain bike at the heart of the Himalaya is one of the best parts of adventure tourism.

Since 2011/2012 some organizations have been motivated to explore and flourish such adventurous sports in Nepal.

There are hundreds of Nepalese youth who have successfully launched many programs to promote it. Mountain bike in Annapurna Circuit Trek, Mustang, and Baglung Beni are some of the best trails. These routes are popular due to the beautiful panoramic view of beautiful mountains, lush forests and their cultural sites. These days the Annapurna region and mostly Pokhara to Mustang is renowned as the best mountain bike hub in the world.

Rafting is another most thrilling and adventurous activity in the tourism sector.  It was started commercially since 1990 in Nepal. According to the data of different organization, Trishuli River, Bhotekoshi and Dudhakosi are the world’s best rivers for thrilling rafting activities.