Compared to the spring when there were nearly 20 expeditions jostling for space at the Everest Base Camp, this season there are only five teams: Karnicar\'s Slovenian, and four South Korean groups making attempts on Lhotse and Everest. So things will be quieter. Other Slovenian teams will be attempting Annapurna III and Pathivara. Three joint Slovenian/Nepal teams will attempt Dorje Lhakpa, Jongsang and Kiratchuli.

Another Korean team will attempt 8201m Cho-Oyu, and a student\'s alpine team will test their skills on Dhaulagiri (8167m). So far Nepal\'s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Civil Aviation has issued permits to 34 teams from 15 countries to climb 20 different peaks this autumn. Four teams, including an all-women\'s expedition from Sweden, have been permitted to climb Baruntse, three teams each will attempt Ama Dablam and Lhotse, two teams each have been permitted to climb Cho-Oyu, Dhaulagiri, Kumbha-karna, Tilicho and Putha Hiunchuli. Climbers from Japan, Slovenia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Russia, Japan, Slovenia, and Britain will be attempting Annapurna I, Annapurna III, Chamar, Dorje Lakpa, Himlung, Jongsang, Kangchendzonga, Lang Shisha Ri, Lhotse Sar, Pathivara and Kiratchuli. "By the end of autumn we expect the list to be longer. Probably over 60 teams, the same as last year," says Ganesh Raj Karki, head of the Mountaineering Section at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. "Applications for permits are still coming in.