Dhaulagiri summiteers stuck at base camp due to bad weather

By Thakur Prasad Acharya,Myagdi, Apr. 28: The Department of Tourism (DoT) has issued permits to 35 people to make an attempt on Mount Dhaulagiri, the seventh highest mountain in the world, this Spring season. 

Yubraj Khatiwada, director of DoT’s Mountaineering Section, informed that 24 men and 11 women had received permission to scale the 8,167-metre-high peak. From them, the nation has collected Rs. 8.1 million in royalties.

All those who have obtained the permits have reached the base camp and are waiting for favourable weather. Thaneswar Guragai, manager of Seven Summit Treks, said that snowfall had forced all the climbers to wait. Indra Singh Sherchan, a tourism entrepreneur of Dana, Annapurna Rural Municipality–3, who recently returned from base camp, said that snow had blocked the climbing path above the base camp. 

“The Sherpas are having a hard time opening the path,” he informed. “But the weather has started improving. The climbers will leave base camp as soon as the climbing route is opened.”

Dhaulagiri is considered a challenging mountain to climb owing to the unpredictable weather.

Meanwhile, 54 people have taken permission to climb the 8,091-metre Annapurna I in Narchyang, Annapurna–4. They have paid Rs. 10.8 million in royalties.