Himalaya Mountaineering & Sightseeing News Home Himalayas See 780 Summits. 06 Jun 2009 Mt. Everest, 288 members with 29 teams. Mt. Manaslu, 107 members with 11 teams. Mt. Lhotse, 52 members with 6 teams. Mt. Dhaulagiri, 52 members with 8 teams. Mt. Makalu, 40 members with 4 teams. Mt. Barntse, 34 members with 3 teams. Mt. Kanchanjunga, 32 members with 4 teams. Mt. Pumori, 24 members with 4 teams. Mt. Annapurna, 19 members with 4 teams. Mt. Amadablam, 19 members with 4 teams. Mt. Nuptse, 9 members with 2 teams. Mt. Cho-oyu, 2 members with 1 team. Other Mountains, 91 members with 16 teams. The spring mountaineering season recorded 780 ascents from 98 different expeditions in three month period between March and May end, said officials at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. Everest Sumit by 5 Japanese 01 Jun 2009 Everest expedition organized by Adventure Guides Co. Ltd (Leader is Mr.Kenji Kondo)in Japan succeeded to climb on 21st May.. Successful Members were Mr.Kondo and 4 Japanese and 5 Neapales belong to Cosmo Trek (P) Ltd Monsoon starts " First week of JUN " 27 May 2009 According to MFD(Meteorological Forcasting Division) rainy season this year will start first week of Jun. It is likely arrive at eastern Nepal on Jun 5th. 5 days earlier than usual. Foreign shot in arm for HRA 26 May 2009 The International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine (ICARMEDCOM) consisting of nine mountain rescue doctors from Europe and the USA led by Dr.Herman Brugger from South Tryol,Dr.Fidel Elsenohn from Austria and Dr. John Ellerton from England will travel to Kathmandu . It will on enquiry of the Himalayan Rescue Association(HRA) conduct the first international Mountain Emaergency Nedicine Course .The specialty course 2009 Moutain Emergency Medicine will be organised from May 24 to 28. According to HRA ,the course participants will have eight Nepal Doctors and 22 sherpas,who are participating trekking ,expedition as in rescue mission of HRA in Nepal. The mountain emergency course is the first of its kind and can be considered as a starting signal for improvement of rescue medical training and equipments in the highest mountains of the world. The theoretical part of this rescue medical training will take place in the main building of HRA in Kathmandu. (the HimalayanTimes) Tourist Arrival Down ! 08 Apr 2009 According to Immigration office in Kathmandu international Airport, tourist arrival of Mrach is a big fall . Visitors Arrival By Nationality (2009/JAN to MAR) Nationality 　 Jan Feb Mar TTL Asia Bangladesh 871 676 999 2,546 Indo 5,309 6,050 5,551 16,910 Pakistan 300 309 284 893 Sri Lanka 111 199 137 447 China 2,182 1,200 1,175 4,557 Japan 1,565 1,553 2,271 5,065 Malaysia 213 370 432 982 Singapore 142 202 482 869 S/Korea 2,678 1,046 788 3,042 Taiwan 669 409 301 1,274 Thai 319 880 848 2,142 Europe Austria 60 141 236 437 Belgium 174 234 487 895 Czech 0 14 113 127 Denmark 225 286 460 971 France 788 1,130 1,943 3,861 Germany 446 1,066 2,095 3,607 Israel 88 187 554 829 Italy 242 439 480 1,161 Netherland 230 361 610 1,201 Norway 119 237 252 608 Poland 0 84 133 217 Russia 0 244 367 608 Switzerland 173 252 352 777 Spain 210 396 443 1,049 Sweeden 63 156 228 447 UK 1,346 1,927 3,184 6,457 Other Area Canada 481 492 767 1,610 USA 2,046 1,814 2,777 6,330 Australia 732 733 1,192 2,663 New Zealand 110 58 158 295 Grand Total 21,944 25,181 33,005 80,130 　 2008 2009 　 Japan 6,411 5,065 -21% China 4,851 4,557 -6% S/Korea 5,291 3,042 -43% France 4,659 3,861 -17% Germany 4,321 3,607 -17% Italy 2,046 1,161 -43% UK 7,859 6,457 -18% USA 7,276 6,330 -13% Indo 20,152 16,910 -46% Visitor arrival in March 02 Apr 2009 Visitor arrival in March, 2009-by air only- suggests that the global financial crisis has started hurting Nepal’s tourism sector hard. The figures released by the immigration Office Tribhuvan International Airport(TIA), reveal that arrival figures in the month of March 2009-compared to the same year decreased by 17.6% to drop to 33,005. In the South Asian market, only Sri Lanka and Bangladesh registered growth by 12.3% and 29.6% respectively. India and Pakistan witnessed negative growth of 24.7% and 6.3% respectively in March, challenging the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) assertion that it has been doing promotional activities in various Indian cities. Other Asian countries Thailand and Singapore maintained an upward trend with 132.3% and 50% growth. However, arrivals from Japan, South Korea and Malaysia registered negative growth of 19%, 34.2% and 7.1%. The United Nations World Tourism Organization expects international tourism to stagnate or even decline by a negative one to two percent throughout 2009. New Air Line comes to Kathmandu 19 Mar 2009 17th ,March Baharain Air based in Middle -east has started its service in Nepal. Bahrain Air will fly 3 flights a week for the time being, but from 30th March one more flight will be increased. and daily operation from ctober. This is a fifth air line which comes from middle east based . Others are Quatar Airways,Gulf Air, Etihad and Air Arabia. Foreign exchange 09 Mar 2009 Currency Unit Buying(Rs) Selling(Rs) US$ 1 82.45 83.05 Japanes Yen 100 8.47 8.53 Euro 1 104.67 105.43 Pound 1 117.52 118.37 Chinese Yuan 1 12.06 12.14 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 ※ Rs:Nepal Rupee Women Everest Summit 09 Mar 2009 Coinciding with the International Women's Day, TAAN( Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal) here on Sunday handed over RS.200,000(about US$2500) to the members of First Inclusive Women Sagarmatha(Mt.Everest)Expedition 2008. Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation , Hisia Yami handed over the check admist a function organised to mark the Day. Receiving the check,the young women mountaneers said that they intend to use the amount as seed money to establish a national mountaineering school inthe near future. They are soon embarking on an exploration mission to Langtang to identify a possible location for setting up the school. They will later explore Rolwaling Valley ,Khumbu Area Annapurna and Kanchengjunga among other areas. Ten women mountaneers had reached atop Mt.Evwrest on the eve of declaration of country as Federal democratic Republic. TAAN,the umbrella organisation of trekking and mountaineering operation in the country ,expressed hope that the support would help encourage more women to involve in trekking, mountaineering and pther focused Tourism activities. ( The Himalayan ) Meltdown Slows tourists arrival. 09 Mar 2009 The Global meltdown is slowly showing its impact on the economy. According to latest data from the Immigration Office, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), tourist arrival in February by air plunged by 16.2 percent to 25,181in comparison to the same month last year. However, the number of Sri Lankan and Pakistani visitors increased, said Nepal Tourism board (NTB). Other Asian countries like Thailand and Malaysia maintained the upward trend with 1.5 percent and 24.2 percent growth respectively whereas arrivals from China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore witnessed negative growth by 45.5 percent, 24 percent, 26.1 percent and 28.1 percent respectively. European markets expect for Denmark (up by 6.7 percent), Switzerland (up by 8.6 percent) and Sweden (up by 3.3 percent) registered negative growth in comparison to the same month last year. A total of 25,166 foreign tourists departed from TIA in February whereas the number of Nepali arrivals stood at 43,448 while 41,579 Nepalis departed from TIA in February, said NTB. Thai Airways increases flights 3 Oct 2008 As of October 27th, Thai Airways have increased the number of flights from Bangkok to Kathmandu. Monday, Wednesday, Saturday 　Bangkok / Kathmandu　ＴＧ−３３５　14:30-16:45 　Kathmandu / Bangkok　ＴＧ−３３６　17:00-21:25 Daily flights are operated same as before. Govt. revises permit fee in controlled areas 07Jul 2008 In a bid to attract more trekkers in the controlled areas, the government has revised permit fee in different controlled areas of the country. The notice regarding the revision of permit fee was published in Nepal Gazette (Volume 58 No 10) and the revised permit fee will come to effect from 16 July 2008. 1.VISA（Tourist Visa） Tourist Visa with Multiple US$ 25- per 15 days US$ 40- per 30 days US$100- per 90 days extension US$ 2- per day and additional US$ 20- for Multiple US$ 3- per day for the regular (single) 2.Permit fee １) Upper Mustang and Upper Dolpo US$ 500-/ pax per first 10 days US$ 50- / pax per day ( exstra day) 2) Manasle Region ( September to November) US$ 70- /pax per 1 week US$ 10- /pax per day(extra day) (December to August) US$ 50- /pax per 1 week US$ 7- /pax per day (exstra day) 3) Humla Area US$ 50- /pax per week US$ 7-/pax per day(exstra day) 4) Kanchenjunga ,Lower Dolpo ,Gaurishankar US$ 10-/pax per week 5) Gorkha Area US$ 35- /pax per 8 days ( September to Vovember) US$ 25- /pax per 8 days ( December to August) 　　　　　　　　 77 year old man became the oldest person so far to scale Everest. 25 May 2008 According News on 25 May 2008 . Min Bahadur Bahadur Sherchen 77 year old man became the oldest person so far to scale Everest. Top Home Nepal government has decided to slash royalties on mountaineering expeditions 08 May 2008 Revised Royalty for Mountain ( Press Released on 30 Apr 2008)/2065/1/18 The government of Nepal has decided to deducte royalties on mountaineering expeditions during the off- seasons to promote season based mountaineering round the year. It has also exempted royalties for all mountains in the western and far western regions for the next five years. “Without changing the royalty for the spring season, deducted the royalty by 50 percent for Autumn and 75 percent for winter and summer seasons. Revised Royalty is as follows: 1 Name of mountain: Sagarmatha 8848 m Route: South-East Ridge (Normal Route) No of Climbers Royalty (USD) Spring Season Autumn Season Winter & Summer Season One Member 25,000 12,500 6,250 Two Member 40,000 20,000 10,000 Three Member 48,000 24,000 12,000 Four Member 56,000 28,000 14,000 Five Member 60,000 30,000 15,000 Six Member 66,000 33,000 16,500 Seven Member 70,000 35,000 17,500 Per Additional Member 10,000 5,000 2,500 In an expedition team there will be 15 persons. 　 2 Name of mountain: Sagarmatha 8848 m Route: Other route except normal route No of Climbers Royalty (USD) Spring Season Autumn Season Winter & Summer Season One Member 15,000 7,500 3,750 Two Member 21,000 10,500 5,250 Three Member 27,000 13,500 6,750 Four Member 33,000 17,500 8,750 Five Member 39,000 19,500 9,750 Six Member 45,000 22,500 11,250 Seven Member 50,000 25,000 12,500 Per Additional Member 10,000 5,000 2,500 In an expedition team there will be 15 persons. 　 3 Mountains: Above 8000m high (except Mt. Sagarmatha) No of Climbers Royalty (USD) Spring Season Autumn Season Winter & Summer Season One Member 5,000 2,500 1,250 Two Member 6,000 3,000 1,500 Three Member 7,000 3,500 1,750 Four Member 8,000 4,000 2,000 Five Member 8,500 4,250 2,125 Six Member 9,000 4,500 2,250 Seven Member 10,000 5,000 2,500 Per Additional Member 1,500 1,000 500 In an expedition team there will be 15 persons. 　 4 Mountain: 7501 m - 7999 m high mountains No of Climbers Royalty (USD) Spring Season Autumn Season Winter & Summer Season One Member 2,000 1,000 500 Two Member 2,400 1,200 600 Three Member 2,800 1,400 700 Four Member 3,200 1,600 800 Five Member 3,600 1,800 900 Six Member 3,800 1,900 950 Seven Member 4,000 2,000 1,000 Per Additional Member 500 400 200 In an expedition team there will be 15 persons. 　 5 Mountain: 7000 m - 7500 m high mountains. No of Climbers Royalty (USD) Spring Season Autumn Season Winter & Summer Season One Member 1,500 750 375 Two Member 1,800 900 450 Three Member 2,100 1,050 525 Four Member 2,400 1,200 600 Five Member 2,600 1,300 650 Six Member 2,800 1,400 700 Seven Member 3,000 1,500 750 Per Additional Member 400 250 150 In an expedition team there will be 15 persons. 　 6 Mountain: 6501m - 6999m high mountains. No of Climbers Royalty (USD) Spring Season Autumn Season Winter & Summer Season One Member 1,000 500 250 Two Member 1,200 600 300 Three Member 1,400 700 350 Four Member 1,600 800 400 Five Member 1,800 900 450 Six Member 1,900 950 475 Seven Member 2,000 1,000 500 Per Additional Member 300 200 100 In an expedition team there will be 15 persons. 　 7 Mountain: 6500 m & below high No of Climbers Royalty (USD) Spring Season Autumn Season Winter & Summer Season One Member 400 200 100 Two Member 500 250 125 Three Member 600 300 150 Four Member 700 350 175 Five Member 800 400 200 Six Member 900 450 225 Seven Member 1,000 500 250 Per Additional Member 200 100 50 In an expedition team there will be 15 persons. 　 8 Mountain Name: Ama Dablam (6812m) No of Climbers Royalty (USD) Spring & Autumn Season Winter & Summer Season One Member 1,000 500 Two Member 1,200 600 Three Member 1,400 700 Four Member 1,600 800 Five Member 1,800 900 Six Member 1,900 950 Seven Member 2,000 1,000 Per Additional Member 300 200 In an expedition team there will be 15 persons. Note: This revised royalty will effected from 16 July 2008. Season 　Winter December - January 　Spring February - May 　Summer June - August 　Autumn September - November Top Home Conditions to be fulfilled by Team Leader of the expedition team for Mt. Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse 26 Apr 2008 １. The team shall not carry and exhibit any things like flags, banners, stickers, Pamphlets or any audio visual devices that may harm bilateral relationship between Nepal and China. Our team fully agrees to allow the liaison officer to check any things belongings to the team if he thinks suspicious. Likewise we fully agree to the fact that the liaison officer has the right to seize if found such materials and send back the team or any member of the team to Kathmandu. The government may take action to those for violating/breaching law of land relating to bilateral relations between Nepal & its friendly country. 2. The expedition team will manage the system of registering daily attendance of members and helpers of the team and report to the Ministry of Culture,tourism and Civil Aviation by the Liaison Officer. 3. The team will deposit all its electronic equipments for lock up in the Police post at the base camp and if necessary use the equipments available with the government units till 10th of May, 2008. 4. Any member or helper of the team shall not proceed above camp II before 10th of May, 2008. 5. The mountaineering expedition team must visit the Sagarmatha Pollution Committee (SPCC) office at Namche Bazaar prior to their departure to the base camps. The team must give list of the disposable and non-disposable goods to SPCC and allow them to inspect the goods; SPCC will give necessary information regarding the waste management system of expedition in the Khumbu region. 6. All the goods must be classified into three categories and described and recorded at SPCC. Disposable in the Khumbu region, which can be incinerated and biodegraded: Toilet paper, cardboard boxes and paper waste, bamboo baskets and mats, cotton and jute bags, spoiled goods, dead bodies. Recycling materials: Tins bottle, Jars and plastic containers, plastic and foil bags sheeting, reusable cooking gas cylinders, gas canisters Re-exportable goods: Used oxygen bottles, used batteries, climbing equipment such as tents, personal gears, etc. Disposable goods must be brought down form the base camps to Namche Bazar and handed over to SPCC Recycling materials should be brought down to Kathmandu (After recording at SPCC) and to be handed over to Solid Waste Management Center for Recycling. The re-exportable goods like used oxygen bottles and batteries must be taken back from Nepal to their own countries respective of whether they are purchased in Nepal or elsewhere, and export certificate should be taken from Customs Office. The garbage amount will be refunded only after submission of the above mentioned papers. And failure to do so may result in cancellation of expedition permit and banning the team and its members for further expeditions in Nepal. 7. Burning or burying any short of garbage at the base camps is strictly prohibited. 8. Painting on rocks is not allowed. 9. All the news regarding the expedition must be conveyed to the Ministry of Tourism & Civil Aviation First of all, and only then it can be sent to others. The satellite phone. V.H.G. and U.G.V. wireless sets, and any other communication equipment must be used for commercial purpose, failure to do so may result in confiscation of equipment , cancellation of the expedition permit and additional penalty according to law. 10. SPCC can check and monitor sanitary condition of the base camp at any time. 11. Liaison officer, appointed as representative of government are there to help the teams as well as to monitor all the rules and regulations. So, they must be with the teams all the times. Likewise we fully agree to the fact that the liaison officer has the right. 12. At the base camps, which are situated in glacier, human wastes (toilets) must be collected in portable plastic drums or barrels and disposed at proper site below base camp. In the base camps teams make proper toilet pits, giving adequate consideration to sanitation and environment. 13. We will be fully committed to abide by the instruction given during the briefing programme and environment. 14. Our team fully agrees not to conduct any kind of press conference or press meet till 10 May. 2008 at Everest Base Camp. I/We agree to abide by the terms and conditions mentioned above. Rate for Khumbu Icefall 22 Apr 2008 Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation awarded a contract to Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), Namche Bazaar to construct　Khumbu Icefall located enroute to Mt. Everest, Mt. Nuptse and Mt. Lhotse　with effect from 7 March 2008 to 6 March 2010. The following rate has been　fixed for the expedition teams for the use of route during mountaineering. Number of climbers Rate (for spring season) 1 climber US$ 1,495 2 climbers US$ 1,995 3-7 climbers US$ 2,395 8-12 climbers US$ 2,995 Top Home TIMS to be implemented from 1st Jan 2008 03 Jan. 2008 Govt. revises permit fee in controlled areas the objective of maintaining the database of trekkers and discouraging illegal operation in trekking business, Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN) and Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) are all prepared to implement the Trekkers’ Information Management System (TIMS) from 1st January 2008. As per the provision, all trekkers should have the valid TIMS Certificate that is distributed free of charge by the TIMS counters of TAAN and NTB. For the effective distribution of TIMS certificates, TAAN will use the offices of all its member agencies as TIMS Counter. Charge of TIMS as follows a. Trekkers goes through Trekking Agency Rs.100 b. Free Indivisual Trekkers Rs. 500 c. Trekkers who has not obtain TIMS card from concerned office in Kathamdnu they will get TIMS card at entry point of trekking paying Rs.1000 Manasalu and Rolwalling Trek is open for regular trekkers 13 Dec 2007 * Registered trekking companies are allowed to operate the trek, * There is no limit on the number of trekkers. Manasalu(Gorkha) Village: Sirdibas, Lokpa, Chumling,Chembar,Nile/Chule Entry Fee US $35/week in peak season (Sept-Nov) US $25/week, between Dec to August Rolwalling(Dolakha) Gaurishankar/Rolwalling Village: Lamabagar- Gaurishankar, (Lepche, Beding, Nau,Cho-Rolpa) Entry Fee US $10/week/person Three Main criteria to Mt.Qomolangma in 2008: 12 Sep 2007 1. All expedition team members just two Nationalities allowed, except Nepalese staff. One team leader and one deputy team leader are requested to assign in each group,the leaders will be responsible for everything related with the expedition. 2. All passport details which include the real Occupation and confirmation of expedition has to be submitted at least 2 months in advance. 3. The new member is not allowed to join expedition after we issued the Climbing Permit. Top Home Copyright(C)2008 Cosmo Trek & Travel Pvt. Ltd.