KATHMANDU, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- A team of Nepali mountaineers has set out for Mt. Cho Oyu with a view to opening the first commercial route to the top of the world's sixth tallest peak from the Nepali side, officials and mountaineering agencies said.
"A team led by veteran Gelje Sherpa set out for Mt. Cho Oyu on Wednesday," Mingma Devid Sherpa, founder of the Elite Exped which is one of the sponsors of the expedition, told Xinhua.
"The team has moved toward the mountain with necessary equipment to open the route and climb the mountain in the course," he said.
Even though there have been occasional ascents of the 8,201-meter-high mountain from the Nepal side through the southeast and southwest parts of the peak, the routes have failed to develop as commercial ones so far.
Sherpa said the expedition team would install hooks and ropes as they summit the mountain that straddles Nepal and China. "It may take 30 to 35 days provided the weather conditions remain favorable," he added.
Before setting out for the mountain, the 10-member team has obtained climbing permits from Nepal's Department of Tourism.
"As they're also climbing the mountain, they received the climbing permits," said Bhishma Raj Bhattarai, a section officer at the department. "Another team is also seeking our permit to climb the mountain through the new route to be opened by the first team."
Currently, most climbers use the route from the Chinese side to summit Mt. Cho Oyu. Nepali officials and mountaineering agencies said that there has not been frequent summits of the peak from the Nepal side because it is difficult to climb it from the southern side through the existing routes.
"Because of the low success rate from the Nepali side, we have failed to commercialize our existing routes," said Santa Bir Lama, president of Nepal Mountaineering Association. "The team is aiming to find the easiest way to Mt. Cho Oyu from the Nepal side." ■