Nepal records first successful mountain summit of the year

Nepal on Sunday recorded the first successful summit to a mountain above 8,000 metres when 30 mountaineers climbed Mt Annapurna after the deadly avalanche of 2014 and last year's great earthquake.

With this first summit in the spring season, Nepal is now hopeful of more successful expeditions on other mountains. Altogether 30 climbers, including 14 foreigners and their 16 Sherpa guides reached the summit of the Mt Annapurna.

Nepal's mountain tourism had faced a set back after 16 Sherpa guides were killed near the Everest base camp in April 2014. Similarly, at least 19 people were killed when an avalanche triggered by the deadly earthquake in April swept away dozens of climbers last year.

77-year-old Spanish climber Carlos Soria Fontan became the oldest person to climb the Mt Annapurna (8,091 metre). The climbers along with Carlos successfully stood on the summit of the world's tenth highest peak this morning, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

"Successful summit on the Mt Annapurna sends a positive message to the international climbers who are attempting to scale other mountains as the mountaineering sector faced a set-back in the last two years," said Gyanendra Shrestha, an official of the Ministry of Tourism.

South Korean climber Migon Kim also successfully scaled the Mt Annapurna, according to Wanchu Sherpa, Managing Director at the Trekking Camp Nepal that organised the expedition. Kim accompanied by mountain guides Pasang Nuru Sherpa and Sanu Sherpa successfully did the summit on Mt Annapurna. He would try to climb Nanga Parbat next year.