Heavy snowfall compounded by very high precipitation in the Himalayan region has forced climbers and their supporting Sherpas, who are eyeing Everest, Lhotse and Nupse, to halt climbing preparations for a while, reports reaching here from Everest region said. On the Everest Base Camp at 5,400 meters alone, altogether 33 expedition teams and their supporting staff have converged.

The team members and their supporting staff stockpile oxygen cylinders, foodstuff and climbing gears at different camps en route to the 8,850 meter peak, before ascending the summit sometime in early May. "The latest information we have from the mountain is that our joint Nepal-India army team could not stockpile the stuff at camp four - the final camp from where mountaineers begin their final push," Royal Nepal Army spokesman Colonel Deepak Gurung told to the journalists, citing fresh dispatches from Everest today. A joint Royal Nepal Army (RNA)-Indian Army expedition team is currently at the Everest Base camp.

The team constitutes 17 Royal Nepal Army soldiers and equal number of Indian army soldiers. While 12 members each from both countries are eyeing Everest, five each from both sides are eyeing Lhotse peak. As soon as the weather clears up, they will resume their preparations," Col. Gurung said. "Most probably they will start climbing by the second week of May."

Meanwhile, a dispatch posted on the Internet (www: everestnews.com) from the Everest by American climber Charlie Wittmack said, "Having received a dubious weather report today, Chris and I opted to delay our trip until tomorrow. We also wanted to meet with the Sherpas who were returning this morning from Camp Four in order to finalize the timing for the summit event."

According to Ang Chhiring Sherpa, a journalist with Kantipur daily, our sister publication, the Base Camp is looking very much colorful with hundreds of tents set up by the climbers and Buddhist prayer flags. Most of the expedition teams are climbing to mark the golden jubilee celebration of the first ascent by Tenzing Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary 50 years ago. Now waiting for fair weather at the Base Camp, Sherpa will become first Nepali journalist to climb Everest if and when he reaches the summit sometime in mid-May.

OTHER NEWS

• Lo-Manthang monasteries to be renovated: Main monasteries in the upper Mustang will be renovated with financial support from the American Himalayan Foundation and technical support from Sendi Kentro Associates within two years. The foundation has allocated US$ 700,000 for the renovation of these monasteries. More than five hundred-year-old monasteries depicting Tibetan culture and traditions were in dilapidated conditions and they are being reconstructed under the supervision of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP). Around two dozen people of the Lo-Manthang are also learning the renovation technique from foreign experts. The government opened Lo-Manthang, also known as Upper Mustang, for tourists in 1992 and ACAP has been given the responsibility of its conservation. Around 1,000 tourists are allowed to visit the area bordering Tibet on an annual basis. A tourist has to pay US$ 70 to the ACAP per day and he has to spend at least ten days in the area.
  
  
• SARS scare hits Everest jubilee, RNAC flights: Fear of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is having a marked effect on the nation's tourism industry, compelling the national flag carrier RNAC to suspend some of its flights to East Asia, and likely scaring off scores of Everest summiteers from attending the golden jubilee celebrations of the Everest ascent on May 29.
  
  
• Timber imported for houses at Sagarmatha Base Camp: For construction of houses around the Sagarmatha Base camp region, timber not only from within the country but also imported from Switzerland and Australia is being flown in from Jiri airport.
  
  
• Smuggling of medicinal herbs on the rise: Following the cease-fire reached between the government and the Maoists over three months back, the smuggling out of precious herbs which are abundant in the remote district of Kalikot is on the rise. Prior to the cease-fire, Maoist cadres did not allow locals to illegally transport the herbs, while strong presence of security forces too deterred local traders from involving in such trade.
  
  
• SARS affects trade with Tibet: A sudden outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China has started to show its effect on trade through Tatopani customs office, an entry point to China. The gradual decline in the business activities through the northern customs point of the country since last two weeks largely due to SARS has not only forced the traders to leave the place, but has also resulted in low revenue collection..
  
  
  By Hari Shrestha, Resident Representative in Kathmandu