About 480 people have climbed Mt Everest summit this spring, the weather the favourable for the climbers due to which the large numbers of climbers have already reached the summit, according to the Department of Tourism. The department estimates that the season climb for the Spring will be completed within a week considering the current weather conditions.
According to the Head of the Mountaineering Branch of the department, Bhishma Raj Bhattrai in the current season most of the climbers have already climbed small mountains and compared to the previous years the Everest Climbers have already climbed the summit safely and timely. As per the current preparations, if nobody asks to climb Everest the work of removing ropes will be successful within 28 May.
In this Climbing Season, 968 climbers from 123 groups took permission for climbing 27 mountains. Among the numbers, the most permissions were for Mt Everest, 42 groups with 319 climbers had permissions to climb the Summit.
Similarly, for Mount Lhoste 14 groups with 134 climbers had taken permission, 9 groups of a total of 97 Climbers took permission for Ama Dablam, 72 climbers of 9 groups for Nupste 26 climbers of 4 groups for Annapurna, 27 climbers of 3 groups for Dhaulagiri, and 44 climbers od 5 groups for Makalu. Most mountains smaller than Everest have already been climbed this season. According to the Department of Tourism, a total of NRS 471,100,950 revenue has been collected from the climb this season.
Helicopter business improved
Since the start of the climbing season, the business of helicopters has also flourished. According to the Airlines Operators Association Nepal, the use of helicopters has increased since the pandemic. As of today, almost 30 helicopters from 11 companies have been flying for 7 hours daily.
For climbing, the helicopters have been used for carrying the climbers, liaisons and helpers to the mountain area and back. The helicopters have been operating from Lukla and Pokhara bases.
