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Kathmandu: Nepal allowed the climbing season on Mount Everest to resume on Friday after blocking access to hundreds of climbers so that a Chinese team could ascend with the Olympic flame without any threat of protests on the mountain.
Tourism Ministry official Dinesh Adhikari said that the climbers who had been waiting at the Mount Everest base camp could now depart for higher ground, lifting a nine-day ban on ascents.
Chinese climbers took the Olympic torch to the 8,848-metre summit Thursday from the Tibetan side of the mountain.
Though they were climbing from the north side, Nepal also had banned climbing on the Nepalese side to the south to prevent any anti-China protests on the mountain.
Hundreds of climbers had boxed in at the base camp since May 1, waiting for the Chinese to complete their torch relay on the mountain.
Adhikari said although the climbers were able to leave the base camp at 5,300 metres yesterday it would take a few days of altitude acclimatisation before they could make their attempt on the summit, via the last camp at South Col at 8,000 metres.
The Nepalese government has given permission to 290 climbers from 32 expedition teams to climb the world's highest mountain during the popular spring season, which ends in a few weeks.
Climbers generally have to complete their ascents by the end of May, after which weather conditions deteriorate.
Strict ban
Not wanting to hurt relations with Beijing, Nepal had imposed a strict ban on the mountain to prevent protests during the Olympic torch relay. Dozens of armed Nepalese soldiers were posted at Mount Everest's base camp and at Camp 2, a lower stop for mountaineers.
Climbers were initially not allowed to go above Camp 2, but after May 1 they were all made to wait at the base camp, according to trekking agencies in Kathmandu.
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