Tourism Minister Khadak Raj Poudel has said that the government is moving forward with a policy of allowing individuals to name unnamed mountains only after charging a fixed fee.
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Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Khadak Raj Poudel (GNES) has said that virgin mountains that are not open for climbing will not be opened indiscriminately and climbing permits for such mountains will be issued only through a tender system.
He said that the government is going to move forward with a policy of giving permission only after charging a fixed fee from interested persons to name unnamed mountains.
There are about 1,300 mountains in Nepal, including Mount Everest, that are climbable. Out of these, the Nepal government has opened only 461 mountains for climbing. Out of these, 102 mountains are still waiting for climbers.
At a review program on spring mountain climbing in 2026 organized by the Department of Tourism at the Nepal Tourism Board on Tuesday, Minister Poudel stated that Nepal still has many mountains to climb and announced a plan to increase tourism and state income by systematically utilizing those mountains.
‘Previously, it was customary to open unclimbed mountains indiscriminately. Now that will stop,’ he said, ‘Mountains that have not been given permission will be regulated and climbing permits will be granted only after opening a tender.’
At a program attended by climbers and guides from various mountains, Minister Poudel proposed linking the naming of unnamed mountains to economic value. ‘If someone wants to put their name on a mountain, they can make arrangements to pay the state for it. The income from that can be used for the benefit of the country,’ he said.
According to him, there are still many mountains to be climbed in Nepal. Currently, most of the foreign climbers are focused only on Mount Everest, leaving other mountains in the shade. ‘We will not open new mountains as soon as we ask for permission. No one goes to climb many mountains, everyone’s pressure is on Mount Everest,’ he said.
Minister Poudel mentioned that the government is already preparing to implement a system where one can climb Mount Everest only after climbing at least one mountain higher than 7,000 meters to reduce the growing crowd on Mount Everest. He hinted that if necessary, additional mountain climbing experience will also be made mandatory in the future.
‘Our aim is to reduce the pressure on Mount Everest but not to reduce revenue,’ he said, ‘The government is moving towards increasing income by connecting other mountains to tourism.’
