December 07, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 15, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 6: Polish climbers are set to make a new record of scaling Nanga Parbat for the first time during winter. A ten-member team including two Pakistanis led by Krzysztof Wielicki intends to reach the peak between January 5 and 10.

Speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday, Salman Javed, managing director of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) said if the mountaineers completed their task successfully, it would be for the first time in winter.

The 8,125 metres peak, also known as the killer mountain among climbers worldwide, has never been scaled during winter.

In July this year, a Venezuelan climber got stranded in a snowstorm and was later found dead on Nanga Parbat in the western Himalayan part of Diamer district of the Northern Areas.

To promote winter tourism in the country, the ministry of tourism has decided to reduce royalty fee by five per cent for climbing peaks above 6,000 metres, Mr Javed said. The royalty fee for climbing Nanga Parbat is $10,000.

This expedition will work as a precursor to the celebrations of Visit Pakistan 2007 Programme, he added.

A confident-looking expedition leader, Wielicki, who carries the experience of climbing Mount Everest, said they had decided to attempt Hanns Schell route on the Rupal side of Nanga Parbat and were fully prepared to achieve this milestone.

Introducing his team, he said though scaling Nanga Parbat in winter was not an easy task but everyone of them was quite experienced in terms of climbing and had done their homework.

Speaking on the occasion, executive vice-president Alpine Club Col (retired) Manzoor Hussain said the expedition leader had been coming to Pakistan and knew the area well.

Wishing the climbers good luck, he said the Polish International Winter Nanga Parbat Expedition 2006-2007 would set new standards in mountaineering throughout the world.