We all wish you a really great and adventurous 2012!!!

Let’s hope we’re able to turn this world into a safe and happy place for everybody, no matter what race, religion, nationality, wealth or education. In the mean time, we hope your life will be adventurous, here in the Himalayas and far beyond! Happy New Year!

Prices increase for Tibetan expeditions

The Chinese Tibet Mountaineering Association & the Chinese Mountaineering Association announced an increase in their prices per January 2012. As every company has to organize their Tibetan treks and expedition through the CTMA / CMA, it will affect all of us, companies and clients. The reason for this price increase is due to the fact that the exchange rate of USD to the RMB is continuously increasing under the background of global economy turbulence, while the USD is the currency that is used  to settle the account for a Chinese/Tibetan expedition. Moreover, the prices of commodities in China are continuously increasing. These two reasons forced the Authorities to adjust the cost for expeditions from Jan 1st of 2012.

Because of these changes, we also have to recalculate our current prices. We hope to finish this as soon as possible. We’re sorry for any inconvenience…

Nepalese cooking class with Mitho Restaurant

Visiting Kathmandu in Nepal?

Well, why don’t you consider a Nepalese cooking class? Having good food is one of the best things in life, especially in pleasant company. Add ‘learning how to cook’ to it and we guarantee you will have a fun and even a useful time! We encouraged our good friend KB, owner of Mitho Restaurant in Kathmandu, to setup a simple, but special cooking class. We have tried to convince him to put some educational stuff into it, some fun, good food, drinks, interesting people and a cozy athmosphere. We love to invite you to taste, learn and prepare Nepalese dishes with them at their cozy restaurant in Kathmandu. Meet new friends, learn, cook and eat together, we’ll be around, too!

Have a look at their website at: http://mithorestaurant.wordpress.com or visit their Facebook pag: http://www.facebook.com/mithorestaurant

Contact owner ‘KB’ (Kibby) to setup a private cooking class!!!

Mountain Consult Team

USA cancels Travel Warning for Nepal

KATHMANDU: The U.S. Department of State has cancelled the Travel Warning that was most recently issued on January 12, 2011.

The U.S. Embassy is pleased that the overall situation in Nepal has improved to such a degree that this decision could be made. By issuing a press statement on Wednesday, Public Affairs Section Embassy of The United States, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu has stated that the Travel Warning issued about a year ago has been cancelled in recognition of the improved conditions in Nepal.

Great news!

Nepal’s glacial area depleted by 21 percent in 30 years

A Kathmandu based international organization working in the environment and climate change sector has stated that Nepal’s glacial areas have been depleted by 21 percent over the past 30 years.

Have a look at three summarizing documents:

• Climate Change in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas – The State of Current Knowledge (PDF, 159KB)
• Regional Monitoring Scheme for Snow Cover of the Hindu Kush-Himalayas (PDF, 278KB)
• The Status of Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas (PDF, 1.19MB)

The full reports can be downloaded here: http://www.icimod.org/?q=5934

Here’s a written summary:

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) stated this recent data in a report, “The Status of Glaciers in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) Region” which was released on Sunday during Mountain Day, a convening of mountain experts, policy makers, and climate change negotiators on the sidelines of UN climate talks which is ongoing in South African city Durban.

According to the press release issued by ICIMOD, findings of a three-year Sweden-funded research project led by ICIMOD was able to tally the number of glaciers in the HKH region-more than 54,000-and measure the area covered, 60,000 km.

In the Everest area, the data show a marked acceleration in the loss of glacial mass between 2002 and 2005. Glaciers appear to be shrinking in both the central and eastern Himalayas. Country-specific studies have found that depletion of glacial area over the past 30 years was 21 percent in Nepal.

Of these 54,000 glaciers, however, only ten have been studied regularly to determine the net loss or gain of ice and snow (called the mass balance). That handful of studies shows a loss of mass balance, with the rate of loss roughly doubling between 1980 and 2000 and 1996 and 2005. In the Everest area, the data show a marked acceleration in the loss of glacial mass between 2002 and 2005. Glaciers appear to be shrinking in both the central and eastern Himalayas.

The HKH, home to 30 percent of the world’s glaciers and this region’s glaciers and snow breathe life into the regional monsoon system and feed the headwaters of 10 major river systems that stretch across eight Asian countries-Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

The HKH region is one of the world’s hotspots for global warming. The rise in temperature has been greater at higher altitudes and more pronounced during the cooler months than in the warmer months. This imbalance narrows the seasonal variation in temperature, potentially favoring some plant species over others and already having impacts on agriculture. Warming across the region is greater than the global average of 0.74°C over the past 100 years. However, this change is not evenly distributed. It is most pronounced in higher altitude areas like the central Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. In Lhasa, for example, temperatures increased by 1.35°C between 1950 and 1980.

Meanwhile, other two reports released at the same programme also cite problems of climate change, snow and glacier melt in Asia’s mountainous Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region-site of Mount Everest and many of the world’s tallest peaks-highlight the region’s extreme vulnerability to climate change, as rising temperatures disturb the balance of snow, ice and water, threatening millions of mountain people and 1.3 billion people living downstream in Asia’s major river basins.

“These reports provide a new baseline and location-specific information for understanding climate change in one of the most vulnerable ecosytems in the world,” said Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). “They substantially deepen our understanding of this region – and of all mountain systems – while also pointing to the knowledge gaps yet to be filled and actions that must be taken to deal with the challenge of climate change globally and to minimise the risks from impacts locally.”

The three reports published by ICIMOD provide the most up-to-date compilation of information on the current status of climate change in the HKH region and the first authoritative data on the number and extent of glaciers and the patterns of snowfall in the world’s most mountainous region.

The region offers livelihoods to the 210 million people living there and indirectly provides goods and services to the 1.3 billion people living in river basins downstream who benefit from food and energy. Rich in biodiversity, the region is home to some 25,000 plant and animal species, and contains a larger diversity of forest types than the Amazon. Yet despite an abundance of natural resources in the region, poverty is rife. HKH countries account for 15 percent of the world’s total migration.