Government proposes opening 57 new mountain peaks for climbing

Kathmandu: The government has initiated the process of opening 57 more mountain peaks in Nepal for climbing. The Department of Tourism has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation with a list of mountains to be opened for climbing.

Kali Bahadur Bhujel, spokesperson for the Department of Tourism, stated that 57 new mountains will be opened for climbing upon the ministry’s approval.

“We aimed to complete the process of opening the new mountains for climbing in the last fiscal year, FY 2023/24, but were able to submit the proposal only at the beginning of the current fiscal year,” Bhujel said.

The government’s policies and programs of the last fiscal year mentioned opening new mountains for climbing. The department has confirmed that the policy will be implemented this year. According to Bhujel, most rural municipalities have agreed to open the mountains.

Last June, the department sought opinions from rural municipalities on whether the mountains could be opened, considering religious, cultural, and geographical factors. Most of the new mountains to be opened this time are in Karnali Province, with the department proposing to open 20 mountains there.

Additionally, the department has proposed opening 17 mountains in Koshi Province and 16 mountains in Gandaki Province for climbing. So far, the department has opened 405 mountains for climbing.

The height of the proposed mountains ranges from a minimum of 5,000 meters to a maximum of 6,093 meters. Bhujel mentioned that many more mountains are yet to be opened for climbing and that the department will continue to take initiatives to open those mountains as well.

The department collected revenue of Rs 771.3 million in the last fiscal year, FY 2023/24, from royalties from the mountains currently open for climbing.