네팔 산맥에 돌아온 봄‥에베레스트 등반 600회 웃돌아 코로나 이전 회복

*아시아엔 해외필진 기고문을 한글번역본과 원문을 함께 게재합니다.

[아시아엔=비쉬누 고탐 <라이징네팔> 선임기자] 2020년 코로나19로 폐쇄됐던 네팔의 산악이 활기를 되찾고 있다.

산악인에 허가증을 발급하는 유일한 기관인 네팔관광청에 따르면 올 봄 시즌 131개팀 소속 총 986명이 눈 덮인 봉우리 27곳에 오를 수 있는 허가를 받았다. 앞서 네팔정부는 코로나19 확산에 따라 봄, 가을 두 시즌에 등산 전면금지령을 내린 바 있다. 2021년엔 금지령을 해제, 635명이 네팔 산맥의 봉우리를 정복했고, 이 중 459명은 에베레스트 정상까지 도달했다.

네팔관광청 관계자는 “올해 봄 에베레스트 등정에 성공한 횟수가 600회를 넘은 것으로 추산된다”며 “올 봄 등산을 허가받은 팀과 인원 역시 지난 7년 중 가장 많았다”고 전했다. 관광청에 따르면 2016년 봄에는 98개팀 740명, 2017년 봄 108개팀 838명, 2018년 봄 107개팀 844명, 2019년 봄 115개팀 889명이 등반허가를 받았다.

통상적으로 등산허가증은 사계절 모두 발급되지만, 봄철에 가장 많은 등산객이 몰린다. 그 다음이 가을철이다. 금지령 해제 직후인 2021년에는 635명이 네팔의 산봉우리를 정복할 수 있었으나 올 봄에는 에베레스트 등정횟수만 벌써 600회차를 넘어섰다.

네팔은 고도 8,000미터 이상의 봉우리 14개를 갖고 있다. 관광청은 올 봄 그 중 7곳을 개방했다. 에베레스트(8848.86m), 칸첸중가(8,586m), 로체(8,516m), 마칼루(8,463m), 다왈라기리(8,167m), 마나슬루(8,163m), 안나푸르나(8,091m)가 리스트에 포함됐다. 로체는 에베레스트(네팔어로 사가르마타) 다음으로 많은 산악인들이 찾는 명산이다. 관광청에 따르면 15개팀 135명이 로체 정상을 정복했다. 8개팀 69명은 세계에서 세번째로 높은 칸첸중가에 올라갔다.

올해 봄은 한국을 포함해 전세계 74개국 산악인이 네팔의 봉우리를 점령한 시즌으로도 기록됐다. 이중 미국인이 138명으로 가장 많았고, 영국과 헝가리(69명), 프랑스(61명) 등이 뒤를 이었다. 네팔은 이들로부터 약 403만 달러 상당의 관광수입을 올렸다. 에베레스트산을 오르기 위해선 약 11,000달러의 비용을 지불해야 하며, 다른 봉우리는 상대적으로 비용이 저렴하다. 올 봄 네팔이 거둬들인 관광수익 약 403만 달러 중 약 335만 달러가 에베레스트에서 나왔다.

네팔의 산악활동이 활발해짐에 따라 기념비적인 기록들도 나왔다. 카미 리타(52)가 5월 7일 26회차 에베레스트 최고봉 등정에 성공한 것이다. 라크파(48)는 5월 12일 여성 최초로 에베레스트 10회 등정에 성공했다. 올해 봄 등반로프팀을 이끌었던 카미 리타는 금년도 에베레스트를 정복한 최초의 인물로 기록됐다. 카미 리타는 “다시 에베레스트에 오를 것 같다. 에베레스트가 기후변화의 영향을 받았다고 하는데 내 눈엔 과거 모습 그대로”라고 말했다.

1953년 5월 29일 뉴질랜드의 에드먼드 힐러리와 네팔의 셰르파 텐징 노르가이가 에베레스트 최정상을 최초로 정복한 이래 지금까지 약 7천여명의 산악인이 에베레스트를 등반했다. 수치로 따지면 연간 약 100명 정도에 불과하지만 올해에는 그의 몇배나 되는 산악인이 에베레스트를 올랐다. 세상에서 가장 높은 봉우리에 올랐을 때의 성취감은 그 무엇과 바꿀 수 없기에 갈수록 많은 사람들이 에베레스트로 향했다.

올해만 해도 전문의, 배우, 가수 등 다양한 직업의 사람들이 에베레스트 최고봉에 다다랐다. 카타르의 공주인 아스마 알 타니도 지난 5월 27일 세계최고봉에 올라섰다. 코로나로19로 막혀 있던 네팔 산악에 ‘봄’이 돌아왔다.

Two years after COVID-19 pandemic, Nepal’s Himalayas draw crowds of mountaineers
Bishnu Prasad Gautam, Chief Reporter of The Rising Nepal in Kathmandu

Kathmandu: Mountaineering in Nepal which was affected by COVID-19 in 2020 has returned to its normalcy this spring season.

According to the Department of Tourism, the sole agency to issue permits to the climbers, altogether 986 persons (773 males and 213 females) of 131 expedition teams were issued permits to climb 27 snow-capped peaks this season. Of them 44 teams consisting of 325 individuals excluding the Sherpa guides were permitted to climb Mt. Everest, the highest peak of the world.

In 2020, the government imposed a ban on mountaineering in both Spring and Autumn seasons because of COVID-19 and no one climbed any peaks including 8848.86 metres tall Mt. Everest. However, in 2021 it lifted the ban and 635 persons conquered different peaks with 459 of them reaching atop Mt. Everest.

According to Bhishma Bhattarai, an officer at the Tourism Department, 164 climbers of 19 expedition teams and 276 supporting Sherpas had climbed Mt. Everest in 2021.

This year the number of successful ascents on Mt. Everest were over 600, said Bhattarai.

“We have not received the final data, but the number of ascents on Mt. Everest is more than 600 this Spring,” said Bhattarai.

The number of teams and individuals permitted to climb the mountains this Spring is the highest in the last seven years.

Records at the Tourism Department shows that 740 individuals of 98 expedition teams had received permission to scale different peaks in the Spring of 2016. Their number rose to 838 and 108 respectively in 2017 Spring. Likewise, in 2018 Spring, altogether 844 persons of 107 expedition teams were allowed to scale the Nepali peaks whereas in 2019 Spring, 889 individuals of 115 expedition teams were granted permission.

Normally, climbing permission are issued in all four seasons, with Spring drawing the largest mountaineers, followed by autumn season.

In 2021, 635 persons had conquered six peaks including Mt. Everest. But this Spring alone over 600 conquered Mt Everest while permissions were issued for 27 peaks measuring over 6,150 metres.

Nepal has 14 peaks measuring over 8,000 metres, and the Tourism Department has issued permission to scale seven of them this Spring. They included Mt. Everest (8848.86m), Mt. Kanchenjunga (8, 586m), Mt. Lhotse (8,516m), Mt. Makalu (8,463m), Mt. Dhawalagiri (8, 167m), Mt. Manaslu (8,163m) and Mt. Annapurna (8,091m). After Mt Everest (Sagarmatha in Nepali), the largest number of mountaineers received permission to climb Mt. Lhoste. As per the Tourism Department, 135 persons of 15 teams were permitted to climb this peak. Likewise, 69 mountaineers of eight expedition teams were permitted to conquer Mt. Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world.

This Spring, mountaineers from 74 countries across the world including Republic of Korea and Egypt had thronged Nepal to prove their feats in the tall peaks. Of them, the largest number (138) came from the USA followed by 110 from the UK, Hungary (69), Nepal (64) and France (61).

Nepal also collected royalty worth 4.034 million US dollars from the climbers. Mountaineering is one of the sources of foreign currency earning for Nepal. A climber willing to scale Mt. Everest has to pay 11,000 US dollars as royalty. However, the royalty for other peaks is minimal. Thus, 3.35 million of total 4.034 million US dollar was collected from those climbing Mt. Everest.

With the increasing climbing activities, new records were also set by two Sherpas. While Kami Rita Sherpa reached atop the highest peak for 26th time on May 7, Lhakpa Sherpa, 48, broke her own record by climbing Everest for the 10th time on May 12. She is the only female to climb the highest for record 10 times.

Kami Rita,52, who led the rope fixing team this Spring, was also the first man to successfully climb Mt. Everest this time.

When asked whether he is planning to climb the highest peak again, he said he would try. However, he refuted the claims that Mt. Everest has also been impacted by climate change and said, “I saw it as it was in the past.”

According to him, it is never easy to scale the highest peak, but when others make route for you, you will find it easier to reach atop the peak. Interestingly, Kami Rita has led the team to fix rope for climbers this season. He said over 625 climbers including Sherpa guides conquered the peak this spring.

Nearly, 7,000 mountaineers have climbed Mt. Everest from the Nepal side since Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and New Zealander Edmund Percival Hillary first set foot atop the world’s highest peak on May 29, 1953. When it took 69 years for 7,000 to scale Mt. Everest, this year alone over 600 mountaineers set their foot on top of it. This shows more people intend to show their feats in the highest peak. From professional medical doctors to film artistes and singers were among those who climbed the highest peak this year. A Qatari princess was also among them.

Qatari princess Sheikha Asma Al Thani scaled the world’s highest peak on May 27.

Considering the crowd in the highest peak this Spring, one can conclude that mountaineering has returned to normalcy. However, Nima Nuru Sherpa, president of Nepal Mountaineering Association, said that mountaineering is yet to be revived in full scale. The mountaineering is more focused on Mt. Everest, as the data showed 325 of 986 climbers made their attempts on Mt. Everest while 661 tried in other 26 peaks.

According to Surya Prasad Upadhyay, Director of Mountaineering Division at the Department of Tourism, mountaineering has witnessed a revival this year.

Meanwhile, Nepali Army also collected over 33.87 tonnes of mountain garbage from four mountains (Mt. Everest, Mt. Kanchanjunga, Mt. Lhotse and Mt. Manaslu) with the support of Sherpa guides this Spring.