Mera Peak. Photo Courtesy: summitclimb.com

May 24: A feasibility study conducted by a team of mountaineers has concluded that Mera Peak is suitable destination for ski mountaineering.    
The study team comprising of two Nepalis and two foreigners found that the 6,473-metre high peak was apt for ski mountaineering. Leonardo Bernard, 35, and 40-year-old Deidrick Bhan Reason from the Netherlands had skied from the summit of the Peak in May, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported citing the Ski and Snowboarding Academy.    
The skier duo had skied to the base camp of Mera Peak within half an hour, RSS quoted the academy’s president Utsav Pathak as saying.    
The academy in collaboration with the Snow Guide Nepal Treks and Expedition conducted the feasibility study and the ski mountaineering activity on Mera Peak.    
Training for ski mountaineering will be conducted on Mera Peak from coming October. Preparations are afoot to train Nepal’s team to compete in the Ski Mountaineering event of Winter Olympics to be held in Italy in 2026.    
A ski competition was organized by the academy in Kalinchowk in 2019 and ski mountaineering activities and training have been organized in other peaks in Humla, Dolpa, Mustang and Kaski since the last five years, RSS reported.    
The academy aims to popularize ski mountaineering in the country that houses 8 among 14 highest mountains of the world including the 8,848.86-metre high Sagarmatha (Mt Everest).