There are thousands of above-5,000mpeaks in Nepal of which only 142 are open for climbing after permission has been received from the concerned authorities. Anyone who climbs one of these 142 without a permit or climbs any of the other remaining of ´un-opened´ peaks will be doing so illegally. And climb illegally is precisely what hundreds of visi¬tors do every mountaineering season in Nepal.
These are facts known to everyone associated with the climbing trade in Nepal. The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) does not deny it, nor does the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA). Yet, clandestine climbing continues unchecked.
Tourism Act
Climbing permits for Nepali summits are issued at two different places. The NMA has jurisdiction over 18 peaks and is concerned with only these so-called ´trekking´ or non-expedition peaks. The rest are dealt with by the MoT, which does not have resources or the manpower necessary to keep a thorough check on what goes on high up in the mountains.
Legislation to address climbing without permission does exist in Nepal and despite the erroneous language it uses, manages to convey the message. The Tourism Act, 2035, states unequivocally: "No any mountaineering expedition team shall be entitled to climb any Himalayan-Peaks without permission under this Act." Failure to comply can result in various penalties on which, too, the Act is clear. But enforcement is another matter1 altogether.
The MoT relies on external sources for information on climbs that take place in contravention to the rules. There was just one complaint the Ministry received in all of 1994 and even that was not acted upon on the grounds that further information requested was not forthcoming. The NMA is equally hapless. Having no legal authority, the Association cannot take any itinerant climbers. Even on Chomolongma, there have been reports of lone alpinists piggy-backing on fixed ropes of large expeditions and bivouacking on well-stocked camps up the mountain. However, there are no reports of succ¬essful climbs of Sagarmatha by such illegal climbers.