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BELOW is the useful travelling tips Travel West China provides for the amateur mountaineers who want to do the mountain climbing tours in Tibet.

Mountain Climbing Costs:

I. For green hands: If you join a commercial climbing team from the very beginning to the very end, your personal warming and technical equipment usually cost you 20,000 yuan RMB (2,941 U.S. dollars).

II. For veteran climbers: Climbing peaks towering between 6,000 m and 7,000 m will cost you 7,000 yuan RMB (1,029 USD), while the cost for climbing mountains between 7,000 m and 8,000 m is 15,000 yuan RMB (2,206 USD).

III. Mountaineering costs for peaks above 8,000 m vary according to these mountains' own conditions. In general, the costs for ascending the three peaks, namely, the Mt. Cho Oyu, Mt. Shishapangma and Mt. Everest, are 80,000 yuan RMB (11,765 dollars), 90,000 yuan RMB (13,235 U.S. dollars), and 220,000 yuan RMB (32,352 USD), respectively.

IV. If a newcomer wants to climb the Mount Everest after conquering a peak above 6,000 m and one above 7,000 m, the total cost stands at 300,000 yuan RMB (44,118 U.S. dollars).

Currently, most of such climbing lovers and travelers choose to seek for some sponsors for their expedition. What you should know is that the above-mentioned costs do not include your own climbing outfit and transportation expenses.

Advice for Green Hands：

It is suggested that you take part in the Tibet Mountaineering Meeting held in May or October each year. Launched in 2001, the meeting has been held for eight times. It is via this platform that many climbing lovers head for much higher peaks. All the amateurs climbing the Mt. Everest in recent years have ever attended such a meeting.

The Yangbajain Mountaineering Training Base, the highest of its kind in China, has been operational under the Mt. Chitzi, which will be the major target of the coming climbing meetings. The 2009 climbing meeting charged 7,300 yuan RMB (1,074 dollars) for the Mt. Chitzi and 7,600 yuan RMB (1,118 dollars) for the Mt. Lutzi.

If you are lucky enough to take part in some climbing activities held by the Tibet Mountaineering Association or the Holy Mountain Expedition Organization, you only have to pay for your food, clothing, accommodation and transportation before you arrive in Lhasa, which usually cost less than 5,000 yuan RMB (735USD). The other costs will be covered by the organizers.

Mountain Climbing Tips：

If you want to climb mountains, good health, apart from enough time and money, is a must. For green hands, daily long-distance running and weight training are necessary several months before you climb, because you have to walk on harsh mountains while bearing heavy outfits on your backs.

Besides a strong will, your physical ability constitutes the greatest guarantee for success. You'd better take some adaptive training courses before climbing, such as walking on snowy land, sliding on icy slopes and rescue in cracks.

You may sweat from time to time while climbing, so remember to keep warm during breaks. Since the weather on mountains changes dramatically, you'd better take along with you your down jackets. Besides, you are recommended to drink plenty of water - more than five liters everyday - to prevent you from suffering altitude sickness and dehydration.

Oxygen becomes more crucial if you are atop 8,000 m above sea level, so you have to be very familiar with the oxygen supply systems, no matter whether it is the old type produced by Russia or the new one produced by Great Britain, and learn how to read the pressure gauge.

In conclusion, you have to control your emotions well, because getting either too emotional or too tired will trigger your altitude sickness.

Source: Travel West China