Preparing to move Everest base camp
Stating that insecurity has increased due to global warming and humanitarian activities, Nepal is preparing to relocate the Everest base camp.
At present, there is a base camp near the Khumbu Glacier. However, the base camp is being prepared to be moved 200 to 400 meters below the current level as the glacier is rapidly receding, said the director general of the tourism department.
According to him, a new base camp will be set up just below the existing base camp in a place where there is no perennial snowfall. At present, the base camp of Everest is at an altitude of 5364 meters.
About 1,500 people gather at the base camp during the mountaineering season. The BBC quoted the Department of Tourism as saying that preparations were being made to relocate the base camp to a place where there would be no snow, as temperatures would rise and the snow would melt more.
Researchers say that glaciers are destabilized by water melting. Due to which, the number of “cracks” (holes) falling while the climbers are sleeping has increased, said the climbers.
According to the Department of Tourism, the preparations have been started following the recommendation of a government committee formed to facilitate and inspect the climbing in the Everest region.
Foreign tourists visiting Khumbu increased by 80 percent.
The number of foreign tourists visiting the Everest region has increased by almost 80 percent. The number of foreign tourists visiting the country increased by 79.29% in the same period of 2022 as compared to the first five months of 2021, according to the office of Everest National Park, Namche Solukhumbu.
According to the office, 2,850 foreign tourists visited Khumbu from January to May 2021, while 13,763 foreigners visited Khumbu in the same period of 2022.
In January 2022, 204 tourists visited Khumbu, 310 in February, 3126 in March, 6,782 in April and 3,341 in May.
Last year, foreign tourist arrivals declined due to the halt in tourist activities due to Covid. However, as the situation has returned to normal this year, the number of tourists visiting Khumbu is satisfactory, the Chief Conservation Officer of the park.
