A good recap with statistics on the spring 2011 Himalayan season can be found here (even though it is hosted in a commercial website, the information is worth a look):
http://www.asian-trekking.com/about-us/more-about-asian-trekking/ang-tshring-writes/item/236-july-2011.html

Thanks Bruno,

Do you know any interesting peaks arising form the last paragraph?

On the occasion of Nepal Tourism Year 2011, Nepal Government has declared Free Peak Permit Fee to all the Opened Peaks of Mid Western and Far Western region of Nepal for mountaineering expedition until 16 July 2014. If you need any further information please let us know.

Have fun

Brad

radson wrote:Thanks Bruno,

Do you know any interesting peaks arising form the last paragraph?

On the occasion of Nepal Tourism Year 2011, Nepal Government has declared Free Peak Permit Fee to all the Opened Peaks of Mid Western and Far Western region of Nepal for mountaineering expedition until 16 July 2014. If you need any further information please let us know.

Have fun

Brad

Basically every mountain west of Dhaulagiri. This includes Kanjiroba (6883m, Lat 29°22'33" Lon 82°38'15") in Dolpa, several high 6000ers further west on the Nepal-Tibet border (don't know if these peaks are open from Nepal), and the far west peaks around Saipal (7035m, Lat 29°53'21" Lon 81°29'39") and Api (7132m, Lat 30°00'18" Lon 80°55'42").

(H)Api climbing!
Bruno

Bruno, you're a legend. Thanks

Very interesting Bruno. Thanks for posting
As a side note, two trekkers have completed the first thru-hike of the Great Himalayan Trail
http://theadventureblog.blogspot.com/20 ... ke-of.html

Bruno_Tibet wrote: Basically every mountain west of Dhaulagiri. This includes Kanjiroba (6883m, Lat 29°22'33" Lon 82°38'15") in Dolpa, several high 6000ers further west on the Nepal-Tibet border (don't know if these peaks are open from Nepal), and the far west peaks around Saipal (7035m, Lat 29°53'21" Lon 81°29'39") and Api (7132m, Lat 30°00'18" Lon 80°55'42").

There's some really interesting stuff, and lots of empty boring hills in-between too There are unclimbed peaks that are on the permitted list (eg. Dhaulasiri looks good) and stuff on the border you can't go to - though the Japanese and Brits have been getting into some interesting places the last year or two there.

The real problem is the access. You might save on the peak fee but spend more on flights and porters. Even Putha Hiunchuli, 'free' under this system, and a popular and easy 7000er, takes either a long trek, with no tea-houses, or two plane flights and a short trek. If you take those two flights, how does all your food and gear for a four-week trip get in there? You need a good agent to organise that porter circus!

The Poles and others did quite a bit around Api and Saipal many years ago - originally coming in from India - and several British and Japanese expeditions explored the Kanjiroba area. Other more recent expeditions have found troubles getting up some of these valleys, then finding the right peak. You need time and a lot of patience, even before you set foot on the mountain. Finding guides/sirdars and porters both capable and willing to do these kinds of trips is getting harder as time goes by. More of them want easy trekking or commercial peak jobs, or city jobs. Fewer people live in the country, so fewer people know how to get to anything not in a company brochure.

Although, Paolo Grobel wrote a good piece on recent explorations in the Kanjiroba area in the 2009 Himalayan Journal #65:

"It is important to go ahead and step out of line. Not only because of the tremendous pleasure, but principally because the political and social benefits are so important for the future of Nepal. In these regions where poverty is widespread and tourists are rare, the economic impact of an expedition is of real importance. It is a way of making our activity as Alpinists count. Our presence this far west, outside the realms of trendy travel, allows a more efficient distribution of the economic effects of tourism in the interior of the country. This is one more reason to make the mountains of western Nepal better known."
- Paolo Grobel