Nepal extends Everest permits for climbers

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 file photo, trekkers take an acclimatization hike to Nagarzhang peak above Dingboche valley on the way to Everest base camp, Nepal. Climbers are returning to Mount Everest as the climbing industry recovers from last year's deadly disaster on the world's highest peak, a Nepalese mountaineering official said Wednesday, April 1. The popular spring climbing season began last month and runs until the end of May. (AP Photo/Tashi Sherpa, File)
By Daisy Melwani


Nepal has extended the climbing permits of hundreds of foreigners forced to abandon the Himalayas after last year’s twin earthquakes, to encourage them to return to the mountains.

At least 19 climbers were killed when huge blocks of ice buried their tents at the base camp of the 8850-metre Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain.

More than 800 foreign climbers, each paying up to $US11,000 ($A15,400) for their permits, cancelled their expeditions after the April quake triggered landslides and massive avalanches across the Himalayas.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Ananda Prasad Pokharel said on Tuesday climbers would be able to climb on the same permit this year and in 2017, as Nepal struggles to revive tourism that contributes four per cent to GDP.

“They had already paid the money as royalty to climb but could not complete their mission due to the earthquake,” Pokharel said.

The climbing season starts later this month but hiking officials say foreign bookings have dropped sharply.

Nepal’s infrastructure was badly hit in the quakes and a prolonged transport blockade along the border with India over a political dispute has further hit supplies of fuel and equipment.

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