Climbers who timed their ascent for 29 May to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa's achievement, were beaten down the mountain by bad weather this week. Storms and blizzards forced many members of the 23 expeditions back to base camp, according to Tourism Ministry officials. A cyclone in the bay of Bengal threatens more stormy weather on the mountain over the weekend.

Meanwhile, in the lower altitudes of the capital, Everest climbers and mountain tourism entrepreneurs are set to raise many toasts to the highest peak later this month. Unfortunately the expected flood of tourists to celebrate the Everest Golden Jubilee is more like a trickle.

Organisers had hoped that the event would be a crowd-puller, considering that nearly 30 percent of all tourists who come to Nepal are either trekkers or mountaineers. Sadly, the turn out has been disappointing confesses Suman Pandey, President of the Trekking Agents Association Nepal (TAAN).

While more than 200 international Everest climbers have already confirmed their participation in a formal celebration of the event in Kathmandu, many chose to stay away. The SARS epidemic in Southeast Asia is partially to blame-many infected cities are transit points to Kathmandu. "The disease has hampered the event and compromised our business," says Pandey. Tourist arrivals that had reached a record 500,000 in 1999 has waned in recent years. Last year, the figure dropped by almost 30 percent.