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Kathmandu, November 11: A safer route to climb Mount Sagarmatha, the world’s highest peak, is set to open by the end of this March (Chait). According to the Department of Tourism, around 80 percent of the route—running via the Nupse Himal and first used in 1953 by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepali mountaineer Tenzing Norgay Sherpa—has already been constructed.

Himal Gautam, Director at the Department, said this route is considered safer than the one through the Khumbu Icefall, and preparations are underway to open it for climbers in the upcoming spring season. The route will only about be 200 meters long and will serve as a shorter alternative to the traditional Khumbu Icefall path to reach the Everest summit.

According to Ang Tshering Sherpa, an expert with the International Mountaineering Federation and a tourism specialist, the Khumbu Icefall route was first opened in 1984. After that, the traditional Nupse route fell into disuse. He said the Nupse-side route is far safer and more reliable than the Khumbu Icefall route.

People’s News Monitoring Service.