Over 150 reach top of Tibet's mountains

LHASA?-- More than 150 mountaineers from home and aboard reached the summit of snow mountains during this autumn's mountaineering season in Tibet, official of China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) told Xinhua on Friday.

A total of 90 climbers, including 12 Chinese and 78 foreigners, this autumn succeeded in reaching the summit of Mount Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain in the world at 8,201 meters above sea level, said Zhang Mingxing, Secretary General of CTMA.

Meantime, 36 foreign climbers made a successful ascent of Mount Shishapangma, the 14th highest mountain at 8,012 meters. Another 11 Chinese mountaineers climbed to the peak of Mount Noijin Kangsang, with an elevation of 7,206 meters

In the 11th Tibet Mountaineering Festival held from late September to early October, 21 Chinese mountaineering fans managed to reach the top of Mount Qizi, 6,206 meters high. The festival, started in the year of 2001, is now widely welcomed by amateur mountaineers and has greatly boosted the popularization of the sport.

Tibet welcomed about 60 home climbers and more than 250 foreign climbers from Nepal, Austria, the United States, Britain, Spain, France, South Korea and other countries for mountaineering this autumn, said Zhang, added that although some explorers failed to reach the summit, no people lost life because of mountaineering activities.

Tibet Autonomous Region is located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, or the Roof of the World. The average altitude of the region is over 4,000 meters. Tibet is the motherland of five mountains higher than 8,000 meters and more than 70 higher than 7,000 meters. The region has unique resources for mountaineering.

However, mountaineering activities in Tibet are usually organized and held in spring and autumn, as risks are much higher in summer and winter due to local weather conditions.