As the five dead climbers including South Koreans headed home last week, various mountaineers and Nepali officials met at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu to offer tributes to the deceased.

During the meet, officials urged the Government of Nepal to set up early weather warning systems to avoid loss of lives during such natural disasters.

Every time there is a disaster on the mountain, we all seek ways to prevent these deaths, but soon we forget about it. We are going to ask the government to install equipment to warn about weather conditions on the mountain – Santa Bir Lama, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association

Lama went on to say there are some warning systems already but focused only on Mount Everest.

Nepal Parliament member Rajendra Prasad Gautam stepped ahead to take this forward.

“I am going take the initiative and demand with the government to install these weather warning systems on smaller mountains,” said Gajendra.

This disaster is being considered as the worst such incident on Nepali mountains since 2015, the year that saw deaths of around 19 climbers at the Everest Base Camp.

Hope the government would consider officials’ recommendations and takes necessary measures to address concerns of the mountaineering community.

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Nearing the one million target set during the Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign, the country’s industry saw 940,218 tourists in 2017, informed the Department of Immigration (DoI) recently.

“If we count the number of Indian tourists entering Nepal through land route, the arrivals figure crosses the one million tourist arrival target,” says Raju Prasad Poudel, Information Officer at DoI.

According to Poudel, the number of unregistered Indian tourists entering through border points is very high.

Despite missing of the target, the latest arrival figures have offered needed boost to Nepali tourism industry and its entrepreneurs.

Elated at the rise in tourism figures, the President of the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) Amar Man Shakya said, “We could not bring tourists as much as we have expected. But tourist numbers have increased significantly compared to last year. It is a positive thing,” says Amar Shakya.

According to Shakya, the rise in tourist arrivals could not add to the occupancy of hotel rooms.

“Hotel occupancy was around 65 percent only during September to November. We need more tourists to fill our rooms,” Shakya adds.

Meanwhile, Santabir Lama, President of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) said, “We should not be disappointed because of our failure to meet the target of one million tourists. We were very near to the target. Hence, I consider the year 2017 as a successful year for Nepali tourism industry.”

Lama opined that the new government, as a result of parliamentary and provincial elections, would further boost the development of Nepali tourism sector.

Though Nepal saw a record number of 796,946 tourist arrivals in 2012, the country’s tourism industry suffered a major jolt because of the 2015 earthquake and again recovered in 2016 reaching 729,550 arrivals as a result of tourism promotional activities like Nepal Tourism Year 2011 campaign, among others.

Country-wise, India with 160,832 visitors stood as the major tourism market for Nepal in 2017, followed by China (104,664), United States (79,146), United Kingdom (51,058) and Sri Lanka (45,361) respectively, shows DoI data.

8 Lakh Arrivals Via Air!
Though the bordering tourists from neighboring countries like India travel to Nepal via land route, majority of tourists to the country prefer air travel.

According to the Immigration Office at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), more than 8 lakh (857,352) foreigners travelled to Nepal in 2017 as of December 26, 2017.

While a total of 734,686 tourists travelled to Nepal till October 2017 with a monthly average of 73,468 foreign visitors, the country couldn’t reach the target due to fall in number by almost 165,000 visitors during November and December of 2017.

Against the governmental target of at least 150,000 foreign visitors in November and 100,000 in December, the country saw only 122,666 tourists in these two months.

According to the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN), general election was one of the prime reasons for fall in tourist arrivals in the last two months as tourists usually avoid trips to the tourist destinations during election time.

Also Read:

• 2018 Nepal Tourist Arrivals: 73.5% Rise in July, 18% Rise in Jan-July

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The country hosts the world’s highest Mount Everest peak, a lifetime aim for mountaineers across the world, irrespective of the gender.

Interestingly, there is a rising trend of women mountaineers climbing the Mt Everest peak and statistics show a remarkable rise in such trend since the past decade, especially in case of Nepal.

According to the Nepali Department of Tourism, around 323 Nepali women have climbed Mt Everest till 2016 since the first Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei made it to the summit in 1975.

23 Nepali women have reached the Mt Everest summit till 2016, including 10 in 2008 alone with seven of them belonging to the Seven Summits Women Team.

Mountaineering as a Profession

Despite the rising trend of the involvement of Nepali women in adventurous activities, only a few are opting mountaineering as a profession, says Maya Sherpa, the second Vice-President of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA).

“The increasing number of women mountaineers is good.  But only a few of them have taken mountaineering as a profession. Many go there just to fulfil their aim,” says Sherpa hoping that the number would increase in future.

According to Sherpa, Nepal currently has three women as mountain guides and a few more are under training.

Dawa Yangzum Sherpa, a female mountain guide, says, “I have seen many women climbing Everest just to fulfil their interest and use it as a tool to migrate to foreign countries,” expressing her satisfaction over the increasing interest for adventurous activities like trekking and mountaineering among Nepali women.

According to NMA, 91 Nepali women took basic and advanced training in mountaineering till 2008.

NMA expects the number to have doubled in recent years following its allocation of six training quotas for women in basic mountaineering training.

Besides, the Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management has also offered trekking guide training to around 200 Nepali women.

A new team of five women journalists has also announced their plan to climb Mt Everest in the next spring.

Rise in Women Summiteers

While it was only 63 women in three decades before 2006, the number of women mountaineers who successfully summitted the Mt Everest grew to 260 during 2006-16, indicating a growing interest among women towards mountaineering activity.

2013 saw the highest number (55) of women mountaineer summits to Mt Everest, while it was 44 in 2016 despite a two-year break to the expedition post the 2015 earthquake.

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Fighting back the physical disability, a British Gurkha soldier Hari Budha Magar has set a new record on September 19, 2017, by reaching Nepal’s 6,476 meter-long Mera Peak, that too in the Autumn climbing season.

“Budha Magar, the resident of Rolpa District, has become the first double above-knee amputee to climb the country’s highest trekking peak in the autumn season,” read an official statement by the expedition organizer.

According to the organizer, this achievement of Budha Magar was part of his training aimed at attempting climb Mt Everest in Spring 2018.

“Life is all about adaptation,” Budha Magar said in response to his achievement. He further informed that all the five members who joined him in the expedition also reached the peak.

The United Kingdom and Nepal based Himalayan Ski & Treks, and US-based Myrmidon Expeditions supported this expedition organized by the Conquering Dreams Mera Peak Expedition.

The owner of Himalayan Ski Trek, Krishna Thapa Magar hailed Budha Magar for being the first double amputee above the knee who made it to the summit till date.

As per the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Mera peak is the highest peak permitted for trekking in Nepal.

According to Thapa Magar, Budha had to bear the majority of his expedition expenses as no corporate sponsors or donors came forward doubting his abilities.

Meanwhile, Lead climbing Sherpa Mingma David informed that Budha Magar would also be the first bilateral, above-knee amputee to attempt to Mt Everest for an expedition in Spring 2018.

Hari Budha Magar served in the British Army for 15 years and was later discharged from the rank of Corporal on medical grounds in 2014 after he suffered injuries while serving in Afghanistan in 2010, where he lost both the legs below the knees.

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