DHAKA: Hundreds of climbers forced to abandon expeditions on Mount Everest last year are waiting to hear whether they will be allowed to try again in 2015.
They say they are in limbo because of Nepalese government indecision, weeks before the new climbing season begins.
Officials vowed permits for nearly 300 climbers would be valid for five years after the 2014 Sherpa strike, they say.
The Sherpas boycotted expeditions following the deaths of 16 of their colleagues in an avalanche last April.
More than a 12 international operators - and the Expedition Operators' Association of Nepal - subsequently demanded that climbers from 31 different teams be allowed to try scaling the mountain again as individuals or with any team they wanted to join.
Government officials say they promised to accept the same permits - but only as long as climbers came back with the same teams.
That might not be possible, operators said, because members are from different countries and may have their own plans, priorities and schedules.
"Here we are six weeks away from starting our expeditions and no one knows anything," says Russell Brice, of Himalayan Experience, who has been bringing foreign climbers to the Nepalese Himalayas for years.
"As expedition operators we are left totally in the dark, it's gone nowhere in one year."
Another operator, Gordon Janow, said the indecision meant none of the climbers hoping to use last year's permits could attempt Everest this spring season, which begins next month.
"At this late stage, climbers who were waiting on a permit decision are likely to late to join given the expense, training time and the need to be away for more than two months."
The route from base camp to the top of Everest will be changed to avoid the risk of avalanches on the left side of the Khumbu Icefall, scene of the 16 April Sherpa tragedy last year.
Expert rope and ladder-fixing Sherpas, known as Icefall doctors, will begin to change the route during the first half of March.
By then expedition teams will begin to arrive at the base camp before starting their ascent in April and May.
The issue of last year's permits, however, remains far from resolved.
Source: BBC
BDST: 1339 HRS, FEB 25, 2015
