Nepal issues permits for fall season mountaineering

KATHMANDU, Sep 1: Nepal on Tuesday started issuing permits for climbing Himalayan mountains inside the country in the fall season by allowing two teams to scale Mt. Manaslu, the world's eighth tallest peak at 8,163 meters.

Two groups comprising a combined 25 members received the first permits for the fall season that begins in September, the Department of Tourism said in a press statement.

One group has 15 members, with ten male and five female climbers, while the other has 10 male members, according to the department.

Most mountaineers usually visit Nepal to summit the Himalayan mountains in the spring, but a few of them also try their luck in the fall.

Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition, an expedition company in Nepal, is organizing the climb for the 15-member team.

Company director Mingma Gyalje Sherpa told Xinhua that a Chinese climber would lead the expedition team.

"There are two climbers from China and other climbers from different countries," Sherpa said. "The Chinese climber who is leading the team had climbed Mt. Lhotse in the spring season but stayed in Nepal due to flight restrictions amid the second wave of COVID-19 in Nepal."

He added that the team would start moving toward Mt. Manaslu after all expedition members have quarantined for ten days in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital.

The Department of Tourism issued permits for eight teams representing 58 climbers to climb five peaks in the fall season last year. In the spring season this year, a total of 633 climbers and their supporting staff scaled six mountains, including Mt. Qomolangma, the world's tallest at 8848.86 meters, according to the department.