Over 400 granted Everest climbing permit

Kathmandu: More than 400 climbers have been given permits for Sagarmatha (Everest) climbing in the wake of the Spring Season.

The Tourism Department informed that 463 climbers from 42 groups took the climbing permit so far. An officer at the mountaineering section of the Department, Bigyan Koirala, informed that now only two to three Nepalis and some foreigners were in line to get the permission.

The Department estimated that some 470 persons would take mountaineering permits this year. Those who have already got the permit are now at base camp and the second camp of the Sagarmatha, the highest peak in the world.

The icefall doctors have also made a trail for climbing up to the fourth camp. The government has so far collected Rs 737 million in royalty for the Sagarmatha climbing permit (rss).