Bahrain Prince climbs Mt. Manaslu in 1st assent of mountain over 8,000m this autumn

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KATHMANDU, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- A mountaineering expedition team consisting of Bahraini Prince Sheikh Mohamed Hamad Mohamed Al Khalifa scaled Mt. Manaslu on Thursday morning, officials of the Nepali government and expedition organizing company said.

"Fourteen members of the expedition team, including a member of Bahraini Royal family, reached the top of Mt. Manaslu at 7.10 am (local time)," Meera Acharya, undersecretary at the Department of Tourism told Xinhua on Thursday. "Based on the reporting made to us, it is the second summit of any Himalayan mountain by any expedition team this autumn."

According to the tourism department, it is the first ascent of Nepal's mountains with a height of over 8,000 meters this autumn. The department has so far issued climbing permits to four teams.

The 8,163m high Mt. Manaslu is the world's eighth highest peak, which lies in western Nepal. The same team, on October 3, had climbed Mt. Lobuche (6,619m), which lies in the Himalayan region.

According to the tourism department, it was the first ascent of any Himalayan mountain in Nepal this autumn. The 15 members of the same team had climbed Mt. Lobuche as a part of acclimatization to climb the highest peak. The team had comprised 18 members.

"The team consisting of the Bahraini Prince Sheikh Mohamed Hamad Mohamed Al Khalifa climbed these two mountains as a part of the preparation to scale Mt. Qomolangma in spring 2021," Pasang Phurba Sherpa, executive director of Seven Summit Treks, which organized this expedition told Xinhua on Thursday. "This summit has conveyed a message to the world that there is an opportunity to climb the Nepali mountains even during the COVID-19 pandemic."

The mountaineering team comprising 15 members of Bahrain's Royal Guard and three British climbers had arrived in Nepal on September 16. They stayed in hotel quarantine for a week and headed to climb the Mt. Lobuche firstly and later to the Mt. Manaslu.

According to the tourism department, it has been receiving a lot of inquiries from the potential climbers this autumn, even though the department has so far issued permits for four teams.

Early this week, the Nepali government decided to allow foreign tourists starting from mid-November, in a reversal of an earlier decision to allow foreigners to visit Nepal for mountaineering and trekking from October 17 amid a worsening coronavirus situation. Enditem

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