Mountaineering Association in the process of establishing a university, identifying and counting new mountains <\/strong><\/p>\n Kathmandu. Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) is to initiate the process of establishing a ‘Mountain Adventure University’ in Kakani of Nuwakot. <\/p>\n In an exclusive conversation with Nepal News Bank, President of Nepal Mountaineering Association Phur Gelje Sherpa said that the countries with small and small mountains in the world are imparting higher education on mountain adventure tourism. According to Sherpa, the establishment of an international level mountain study center in the natural environment at an altitude of 3,000 to 3,500 meters would attract scholars and researchers from all over the world. <\/p>\n He said, “In many countries of the world, mountain adventure is taught even when there are few and small mountains. But in Nepal, which has a huge mountain range, such study is not possible.” If the Mountain Adventure University is established in Kakani, thousands of international students and researchers will come to Nepal for studies. This will make Nepal a major hub of global mountain tourism education. Stating that the International Mountain Museum (IMM) based in Pokhara is playing an effective role in mountain education and awareness, Sherpa said that 1500 to 2,000 domestic and foreign tourists visit the museum daily. About 70 percent of them are students and Nepali citizens. <\/p>\n The museum is based on three main themes. The entire mountain and mountainous region, the mountain life and culture, and the lifestyle of the local people. At a time when there is a lack of formal mountain tourism education in Nepal, the museum has been providing direct educational knowledge to the students about the mountains, mountaineering, biodiversity (flora and fauna) and natural resources. <\/p>\n In addition, the museum is being upgraded with the aim of extending the stay of foreign tourists coming to Pokhara by at least one day. He said that at present, tourists stay for an average of 5 hours and return, so homework is being done to develop additional structures and activities to keep them busy throughout the day. <\/p>\n ‘When we are not able to provide education related to tourism, through the museum, we have been telling about the mountains, mountaineering, flora and natural resources. That is also an important achievement,” he said. <\/p>\n Similarly, a plan has been put forward to convert the old mountain school in Manang into a museum and establish a new well-equipped school at the same place. He informed that high mountain training is being conducted in Kakani, Kanchenjunga, Manaslu and Sudurpaschim among other regions by developing its own curriculum for the production of skilled manpower. <\/p>\n Profiling of more than 1700 peaks <\/p>\n In order to take Nepal’s mountain tourism to a new height in the world market, the association is going to start a campaign to identify and count the unnamed mountains that have not yet been opened for climbing. He said that more than 1756 or 1758 chulis are currently awaiting formal census and identification in Nepal. <\/p>\n “Many mountains are still uncounted and unnamed. We are working on the official identification, scientific census and detailed profile of all these peaks,” he said, “For this, a strong digital platform will be created to provide information about Nepal’s new destinations to climbers from all over the world.” Speaking about the impact of climate change, Sherpa said that the seminar to be held in Kathmandu will not save the mountains<\/p>\n<\/p>\n He said that although computer disks are full in the name of climate study, the melting of mountains, glacial lake outburst, devastating floods and landslides and human loss have not stopped. He said that the study should be done directly from the mountain surface above 350 <\/p>\n 0 to 4000 meters. <\/p>\n He said, “The length of the glacier has increased or decreased, what is the speed of its flow, where is the source of water, how strong is the natural barrier wall around the lake and how many waves can be generated and the lake can burst when the snow mound falls.” All these things should be analyzed by reaching the high ground. He said that Nepal has long data on glaciers, glacial lakes and snow and a strong manpower of local experts who live in the mountains. He also said that NMA is ready to make satellite technology and on-site data collection effective in collaboration with international organizations. For this, the scope of cooperation is being widened with Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality, mountainous local levels, ICIMOD, WWF, and the Ministry of Forests. <\/p>\n Cross-border pollution and fires pose a threat to the mountains<\/p>\n Chairman Sherpa pointed out that industrial air pollution from neighboring countries is not the main reason for the melting of the mountains. He said that from the end of December to February, not only the Kathmandu Valley but also up to the base camp of Mount Everest, thick smog causes eye irritation and even disrupts helicopter flights. <\/p>\n “Thick industrial pollution from the industries of neighboring countries remains stuck for months as it is not possible to cross our high mountain ranges,” he said, “After that, the smoke from the forest fires that occur in the country in March, April and May also mixes with it. Due to such polluted smog and temperature, our white mountains are turning into black stone and the snow is melting rapidly.” He demanded that the government of Nepal should hold serious discussions with the neighbouring countries through diplomatic, bilateral and trilateral talks as the solution to such multifaceted environmental crisis cannot be solved only at the level of NGOs or mountaineering associations. <\/p>\n Welcoming the Prime Minister for raising voice on this issue in the international forum, he reiterated the need for concrete diplomatic initiative. <\/p>\n New Tourism Act and the reality of arrears <\/p>\n He demanded that the NMA should ensure clear legal rights in the new Tourism Act to make Nepal’s mountain tourism sector systematic. Recalling that the Tourism Act of 2035 BS has clearly defined the role and responsibility of the association, he said that continuous dialogue is being held with the tourism minister and the stakeholders to maintain the same provision in the new act. <\/p>\n Clarifying about the arrears of around <\/p>\n nine and a half crore rupees seen in the association, Sherpa clarified that it was not a financial irregularity but due to ‘misinterpretation’ of the legal language. <\/p>\n All <\/p>\n the royalties collected from the sale of the mountain crop are deposited in the account of the state and 25 percent will be given to the local government, 25 percent to the provincial government, 5 percent to the academy and the remaining 45 percent to the union. <\/p>\n According to him, 45 per cent of the budget will be considered as 100 per cent and 30 per cent will be spent on environment committee and 20 per cent on local infrastructure development. <\/p>\n “In the working procedure, it was clearly indicated to the Nepal Mountaineering Association that the association would be able to bear the expenses. However, during the audit, the word ‘association’ was misinterpreted as ‘federal government’ and not as ‘Mountaineering Association’ and irregularities were shown,” he clarified. <\/p>\n He clarified that although the records of arrears were found due to the technical process of obtaining prior approval of the ministry and the lack of some documents, all the programs of the association were done in the presence of the government decision, consent and the Director General of the Department of Tourism (who is an ex-officio member of the association). He said that the process of clearing the arrears has reached the final stage by submitting all the proofs including bills, compensation and vouchers. <\/p>\n Big seminars held in Kathmandu will not save the mountains, air pollution should be stopped: Phur Gelje Sherpa Mountaineering Association in the process of establishing a university, identifying and counting new mountains Kathmandu. Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) is to initiate the process of establishing a ‘Mountain Adventure University’ in Kakani of Nuwakot. In an exclusiveContinue reading “Big seminars held in Kathmandu won’t save mountains, air pollution should be stopped: Phur Gelje Sherpa”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":110468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-samachar-en"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/photo-1_6aa6453b.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110482,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110481\/revisions\/110482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/media\/110468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"