Everest 2008: Adventure Consultants Heading Out–Still Awaiting Word on Permit–32 Permits Issued?

This is coming straight from a Press Release from Adventure Consultants Expedition leader Guy Cotter, by way of SCOOP.

Media release – March 24, 2008

NZ expedition now expected to be given the go ahead – top Kiwi leader unsure of terms and restrictions for Everest expedition

Top New Zealand expedition leader Guy Cotter today confirmed from Kathmandu tonight that Nepal is likely to issue permits for expeditions to summit Everest in May – but tight conditions and restrictions as a result of the Beijing Olympic Games torch run are expected.

Cotter said it had been indicated that the permits would be issued for Everest this year but they are still unclear of the final wording of the permits and the unusual conditions due to the Chinese Olympic torch run on the Tibetan side of the mountain.

The various groups who may be affected by the wording of
the permits (Nepalese Mountaineering Association, Trekking
Agencies association of Nepal and the expedition teams)
still have some trepidation as to the final outcome, Cotter
said tonight.

It seems the Nepalese authorities are
delaying their final decision on how they will address the
issue of the permits as long as possible. We understand
that Cabinet must now countersign the document before final
permits are issued which is an indication of how this issue
is being regarded as a hot potato by the
authorities.

All of our guiding staff have arrived into
Nepal and we will be very pleased to get going on the
expedition and leave the politics behind in Kathmandu.

Our clients arrive this week and we will be beginning
the expedition in earnest on March 30 with the intention of
our group reaching the summit towards the end of May.

The conditions that the Nepalese government are
reported to be applying to the expeditions will keep
everybody off the upper mountain between May 1-10 and this
will disrupt our climbing plans to a degree and potentially
lead to our summit climb being achieved right at the end of
May rather than around May 20 as we normally
do.’’

Cotter is scheduled to lead one of 32
expeditions and the only NZ expedition to the summit of
Everest this year.

He has reached the Everest summit four
times already and has become of one of New Zealand’s
greatest expedition organisers.

He has played a lead role
in urging China and Nepal to reach a resolution to the issue
fuelled by the Beijing Olympics torch run.

Cotter flew to
Nepal last week for his latest expedition. He organises
mountaineering expeditions to Mt Everest through a Wanaka
company Adventure Consultants which he took over after the
Everest death of Rob Hall, the original founder, in 1996.

The Sherpa climbing community has been in a state of
shock after the stalling of the annual expeditions to Tibet
and the ‘non opening’ of expedition peaks within Nepal.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of climbing Sherpas would
have lost their annual income they derive from their intense
but relatively highly paid efforts on Mt Everest, Cotter
said.

The support industries that have been built around
expeditions will also be left penniless if the politicians
in Kathmandu stay sitting on their hands except to take time
to deny to the world that they have placed bans on
expeditions this season.

This is the first time since
Nepal opened its borders to foreigners in 1951 that climbing
Mt Everest has been disrupted.

New Zealand has had a close
association with Nepalese authorities and the Sherpas since
the late Sir Ed Hillary became the first person to reach the
Everest summit in May
1953.

ENDS