By Dina Mishev

December 5, 2001 Despite a recent surge in violent confrontations between Nepal's army and Maoist rebels, a half dozen climbing teams are going ahead with expeditions to the nation's storied peaks this winter.

Teams from five countries—none from the United States—have arrived in Kathmandu and will brave the political unrest to take on five Himalayan peaks between mid-December and February, NepalNews.com reports.

A four-month old cease-fire between the Maoist Communist Party of Nepal and the Nepalese government came to a bloody end in late November when rebels attacked a number of army bases. King Gyanendra declared a state of emergency following the attacks, which were the first made on the Nepal army. Previous attacks had targeted remote police outposts.

The Nepal Defense Ministry this week announced that bodies of some 200 Maoists killed by government forces following an attack on an army base in Selleri were discovered in the Solo Khumbu Valley, near the base of Mount Everest, NepalNews.com reports. Some of the bodies were reportedly decapitated, possibly by other rebels in an effort to conceal the identity of the dead.

The Maoist Nepal Communist Party withdrew from politics in 1996 and began a series of guerilla raids in the Nepal countryside in hopes of overthrowing the government. The Maoists fashion themselves after Peru's Shining Path guerillas. They say they are outraged by the unequal treatment of women, poor people, and members of low castes.

In May, Outside contributing editor Patrick Symmes traveled deep into the Maoist-held Rolpa district, attending a rally of some 10,000 rebels (see "The Last Days of the Mountain Kingdom," Outside magazine, September 2001).

Last week, the U.S. State Department strongly cautioned Americans about travel in Nepal. As of November 27, the American Embassy in Kathmandu has severely restricted travel outside the Kathmandu Valley by American officials.

Such warnings have drastically hurt tourism to Nepal. The Nepal Tourism Board on Monday announced that international visitor arrivals were down 43.16 percent, or 18,615 visitors, in November 2001 compared to the same month the previous year, NepalNews.com reports.

"My family's hotel was almost deserted this fall," said Dawa Lama, a student in Kathmandu whose family runs a popular teahouse in Kyanjin Gomba in the Lantang Valley, 100 miles north of the capitol.

Out of all the visitors to Nepal, Americans and Japanese are staying away in the highest numbers. Together they represent a loss of 5,369 visitors to Nepal, the Tourism Board said.

Although no Americans have been injured or killed by Maoists, a number of them have witnessed attacks, including one school teacher working south of Solo Khumbu last February who watched in horror as rebels beat another teacher, breaking both of his legs.

Climbing teams from Japan, Britain, France, Korea, and Nepal are proceeding undeterred, however. According to Nepalnews.com, a seven-member Japanese team will attempt the South Face 27, 923-foot Lhotse, Everest's closest neighbor and the only 8,000-meter peak to be attempted this winter.

A Japanese and a British team both have their eyes on the Southwest Ridge of 22,493-foot tall Ama Dablam, one of the Himalaya's most popular peaks. Another Japanese team will attempt 23, 379-foot Himlung. A three-member French team will attempt the North Face of 22, 215-foot tall Kantega, and a joint Korean-Nepali team will attempt the 22,609-foot tall Gurkapo Ri.

Njima Sherpa, a guide in the Solo Khumbu, said the expeditions would be facing serious challenges even if the cease-fire had held.

"Climbers don't need fighting to make these mountains hard. In the winter there is already much snow and bad weather on the mountains."