Bad weather affected tourism sector

 

KATHMANDU, Oct 12: Due to the adverse weather conditions, three people who went to various mountain climbing and hiking trails in the autumn of this year have lost their lives and hundreds of tourists have been affected.

Due to bad weather, the climbers who reached various camps including the base camp of Manaslu have started returning without completing the climb. According to the Department of Tourism, only 100 people have completed the climb in Manaslu, where 404 people have taken climbing permits this season.

Although mountain climbing has been open since August 8th, the world-famous American ski mountaineer Hilary Nelson has lost her life while skiing in Manaslu due to the deteriorating weather since the beginning. Similarly, Sherpa guide Arun Rai also lost his life in Manaslu. 38-year-old Pustar (Puchettar) Sherpa, a guide missing in Larkepass since October 20, was found dead on Tuesday after five days. His dead body was found near Dharamshala in Samagaon, Chumanubri Rural Municipality-1, Gorkha.

As of Monday, 82 domestic and foreign tourists stranded in Manang have been rescued. According to the department, although Manaslu is the main attraction this year, climbing has been stopped due to continuous heavy snowfall and two avalanches. In other mountains too, climbers have started returning after not being able to climb significantly due to bad weather.

Due to adverse weather conditions, air flights have also been affected, and climbers have stopped in the base camp, Lukla, Ramechhap's Manthali and other areas. Director of the department Yuvraj Khatiwada said that this time only 10 percent of tourists completed the climb in Manaslu due to bad weather. He said, "Due to adverse weather, climbing and trekking have been significantly affected. Tourists are stopped at various places. Climbers have entered some places. Due to the bad weather, the airlift could not be done."

After the heavy snowfall in the Manaslu area covered up to Samagaon, most of the climbers have returned and some climbers are waiting for suitable weather to return. Director Khatiwada informed that about 800 tourists were stopped in Manthali and 2000 tourists in Lukla area due to bad weather. This year, 785 people from 95 groups have taken permission to climb 31 different mountains. For the autumn season, mountains like Everest, Dhaulagiri, Himlung, Manaslu, Nyupse, Saribunga etc. were opened for climbing. Although the climbing in other mountains has been completed, permission is still being given in Himlung and Amadablam.

So far, 597 male and 188 female climbers have received permission. This time, the government has collected six million 59 lakh 93 thousand 524 rupees from the climbing permit.

According to the statistics of the department, last year in this season, 83 groups from 67 countries including Nepal took permission to climb 28 mountains. Last year, 132 women and 1 thousand 84 men took a climbing permit for a total of 1 thousand 216 people.

Last year, 647 men and 115 women completed the climb out of those who took permission. At that time, the government received four crore 67 lakh eight thousand 722 rupees from climbing.

The department has opened mountain climbing in two seasons: spring in March, April, May and autumn in September, October and November.