It was mountaineering that first opened up Nepal to the outside world. Of the world’s 14 highest peaks above 8,000 m, eight of them crown Nepal’s north, including the highest Mt. Everest. Not surprisingly, the fascination of scaling these physically demanding peaks draws crowds of visitors from abroad year after year without let up.

The mountains are open for climbing in all the four climbing seasons:

• Spring (March-May),
• Summer (June-August),
• Autumn (September-November) and
• Winter (December-February).

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation issues permits for the bigger mountains while the Nepal Mountaineering Association issues permits for the smaller trekking peaks between 5,587 m and 6,654 m.