Nepal will be opening five additional peaks for climbers above 25,000 feet for the fall season. There are currently eight mountains above this height that are open to climbers, including Mount Everest, which is the world’s tallest peak.

According to a report by the Global Post, three peaks will be opened in the Kanchenjunga region and two will be opened in the Everest region. The peaks are Lhotse Middle, Lhotse Shar, Kanchenjunga South, Kanchenjunga Central, and Kanchenjunga West.

All of the peaks will be available for expeditions as soon as they gain approval from the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation.

Purna Chandra Bhattarai, a senior official at the tourism ministry, told the Agence France Press that the Switzerland-based organization, which represents climbers and mountaineers from around the world, will probably make a decision at its annual meeting in the beginning of October.

“Of course, it will increase the revenue. But we would also like to encourage people to explore and climb these other mountains, apart from the world’s eight highest peaks,” Bhattarai told AFP.

Incorporating five more peaks into the group of those that lie above 25,000 feet would set an even more challenging goal for professional climbers who pride themselves on having conquered all of the peaks.

“Only a handful of the world’s climbers have successfully scaled the 14 independent peaks that measure more than 8,000 meters, all of which lie in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges,” the report stated.

Revenue from these expeditions are extremely important given the impoverished state of the nation.

Image from Carsten.nebel on the Wikimedia Commons