(Bhismaraj Ojha/CB Adhikari) : A record number of climbers are attempting to scale the highest mountain in the world- Mt Everest- this spring. According to the Department of Tourism, a total of 466 climbers from 43 groups have obtained permit.
Among them 98 are female and remaining 368 are male, said the Department. Climbers eyeing to scale Everest or Sagarmatha this season are from 65 different countries including Nepal as per the statistics of the Department. From Nepal, 15 climbers have received the permit. Similarly, 96 climbers from China have got the permit followed by 89 from the USA and 40 from India.
Likewise, 33 from Hungary have acquired the permit, 21 from Canada, 18 from Russia and 15 from the UK among others. Former President of Nepal Mountaineering Association, Ang Tshering Sherpa, opined that the number of climbers obtaining permit from Nepal might have increased considerably as climbing from Tibet side (northeast ridge route) is not permitted since COVID-19 pandemic. It has been 70 years since human first set their feet at the top of the Mt Everest.
Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary had successfully reached atop the Everest on May 29, 1953. Since then, around 7,000 national and international climbers have successfully climbed the 8,848.86 metres mountain while over 300 have lost their lives attempting it till date, according to the Department. In 2022, 323 climbers from 44 groups had obtained permission for Everest expedition, informed Bigyan Koirala, Officer at the Mountaineering Section of the Department.