New mountain peaks to be opened for mountaineering

Kathmandu: Nepal government is mulling over opening unclimbed and new mountain peaks for mountaineering activities.

According to  the Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jeevan Ram Shrestha the government is planning to permit mountaineering activities on mountains ranging from 5,800 meters to 8,000 meters.

Speaking during a program of the 31st and 32nd Annual General Meeting of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) on Sunday, Minister Shrestha said. “We are going to review the mountains that can be opened for mountaineering that can ultimately improve the living standards of the locals.”

Currently, the NMA has been managing only 27 peaks whose dividends are shared between the NMA and the government in a ratio of 45:55.

However, Nima Nuru Sherpa, president of NMA said that the government has created confusion after it has written to the NMA asking for 100 percent revenue.

Minister Shrestha also stressed that Nepal has immense latent potentials for harvesting from the tourism sector through its adventure tourism activities for which the years 2023 to 2033 will be soon declared as the “Visit Nepal Decade.”