Twenty-Nine Teams Attempting to Climb Mt. Everest This Season

By Kp Subedi, Managing Director, Himalayan Smile Treks and Adventures

This season from mid-March to May, twenty-nine expedition teams from different countries are attempting to climb Mt. Everest (8,848m), to get to the "top of the world". According to the Tourism Industry Division of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation of Nepal, 315 foreign mountaineers have received permission to climb Mt. Everest. Last year, government permitted 335 foreign mountaineers of 30 team and out of them only 181 had reached the summit.

Officials of the division said members of most of this year's expedition teams have already left for Khumbu Region for acclimatization. The royalty fee to climb Mt. Everest ranges from $15,000 to $70,000 per expedition, depending on the size of the team and route.