With the objective of scaling mountains in this spring season, around three dozen expedition teams have left for the Mt. Himalayas, a Nepali official said Thursday.

As many as 37 different national and international expedition teams have left for the Himalayas to scale various high mountains including Mt. Qomolangma, Dhaulagiri, Lhotse, Nuptse and Makalu, said Narayan Prasad Acharya, an official at the mountaineering section of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

Acharya informed that of the 37 teams, 15 plan to scale Mt. Qomolangma. These teams hail from countries including the United States, Britain, South Korea, Malaysia, Canada and Germany.

Acharya told Xinhua that more teams could come to seek permission to climb Mt. Qomolangma this season.

In the meantime, three teams comprising only Nepali citizens have requested the government to waive off the royalty charged by the government to scale the highest peak.

Last year, a total of 17 expedition teams had sought permission to scale the highest peak from the Nepali side, Acharya said.