What’s Up in Trekking Tours to Mt....

What’s Up in Trekking Tours to Mt. Everest The first-ever guided climb of Mt. Everest is scheduled for autumn, 1993--for a mere $17,780 per climber, land portion only. Applicants should have climbing experience at altitudes up to 23,000 feet, and must sign a liability waiver and provide a certificate of medical fitness. Too much money, too far, too much work, you say? The trekking company, Himalayan Kingdoms, reports that it has already received deposits from 25 hopeful climbers, ranging in age from 26 to 58, to fill 15 slots.

The 71-day expedition, to begin Aug. 8, will attempt the classic South Col route on the Nepal side of the mountain, the same path taken by Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary 40 years ago. According to the company, an army of up to 300 porters will transport tons of expedition equipment from Katmandu to base camp--including oxygen, which the party will use when needed above 25,000 feet. The climb will be led by British guide Nick Banks, who climbed Everest in 1979.

This is not the first high-altitude tour offered by the Bristol, England-based company. Last July, three of its clients reached the summit of Broad Peak in Pakistan, the world’s 12th-highest mountain. The company says it has had no deaths and only minor injuries on some Himalayan treks and climbs. Everest, 29,028 feet high, was selected, according to Stephen Bell, director of expeditions, as a “fitting climax to our expeditions of the last few years.” For more information, call Himalayan Kingdoms in England at 011-44-272-237163, or fax 011-44-272-744-993. Travel Quiz: In what country is the world’s southernmost city? Mammoth Snow: As of Wednesday, four chair lifts and one T-bar were open on Mammoth Mountain--where three feet of snow last weekend prompted one of the earliest openings of ski season in 10 years. And officials at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area anticipated that four to six additional chair lifts would be opened by this weekend. Reservations operators at the Mammoth Mountain Inn, who normally answer 40 to 50 calls a day this time of year, said they were fielding more than 400 calls a day at midweek, and the 214-room hotel had already booked about 60% of its rooms for this weekend. (Mammoth hotels and motels suffered through last year’s “dry” ski season with occupancy rates around 30%.) A spokesman at the Shilo Inn said he was anticipating 70-100% occupancy this weekend, and the Sierra Nevada Inn--normally about 20% full this time of year--was expecting to be at least 50% full. For weather updates for Mammoth Mountain, in Los Angeles call (213) 935-8866; San Diego, (619) 231-7785, and Orange County, (714) 955-0692. Presidential Push: If you were organizing a travel campaign to lure tourists to the United States, who would you select as spokesperson? Madonna? Kirby Puckett? Kevin Costner? The Commerce Department’s U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration and GoUSA Travel, a travel industry umbrella organization, selected President George Bush to make a video message glorifying travel in America. The President’s sales pitch, which debuted in a press conference last week, will initially be aimed at the countries that already send the most tourists here: the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany. For those wondering about the President’s participation: Foreign tourism plowed $53 billion into the U.S. economy in 1990, and this year is expected to generate $57 billion, while 6 million Americans owe jobs to the travel and tourism industry, according to government statistics.

Direct Service to South Africa: South African Airways will resume direct service today between Johannesburg and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport after a five-year hiatus and lifting of U.S. sanctions against the South African government last summer. However, an introductory $999 round-trip coach fare--for trips taken Nov. 4 to Dec. 8--has already sold out, according to SAA. Regular round-trip coach fare is $1,699 for trips beginning Dec. 9. The twice-weekly service will trim travel time to South Africa almost in half, down to 17 hours one way. Growing Pain: Of California’s 19 federally defined metropolitan areas, only three--San Diego, Santa Rosa-Petaluma and Vallejo-Fairfield-Napa--experienced increases in hotel and motel occupancy rates from January to July, 1991, compared with January to July, 1990, according to the California Hotel & Motel Assn. Although not quite as dramatic, occupancies at Palm Springs hostelries increased during the last four months of the period, April through July, 1991. But in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area, occupancies in July, 1991, had fallen 4.3% from July, 1990. As with the rest of the state, this drop is attributed to a decrease in demand for hotel rooms as well as overbuilding of new rooms. Quick Fact: Annual pay for airline pilots ranges from $94,000 at America West to $197,000 at Delta. (Source: Travel Smart newsletter.) Comparatively Speaking: Cost of three tennis balls in Copenhagen, Denmark: $13.84. In Johannesburg, South Africa: $4.99. In Singapore: $5.66. In Islamabad, Pakistan: $2.51. Beirut Bound: The U.S. State Department is advising Americans traveling in the Mideast to avoid flights that stop in Beirut, since U.S. passports are not valid for stopping or passing through Lebanon. Penalty for visiting without special validation could be a fine or emprisonment, according to a State Department spokeswoman. Three airlines--Air France, Alitalia and Austrian Airlines--all have flights with scheduled intermediate stops in Beirut. Those flights are between Rome, Paris and Vienna, and Amman, Jordan, and Damascus, Syria. Spokesmen for all three airlines said, however, that passengers carrying U.S. passports would not be allowed to purchase tickets and, further, would be prohibited from boarding any of the Beirut-bound flights.

Fair Warning: Dozens of hot-air balloons, plus polo matches, horse shows, an antique car show and biplane demonstrations will be part of the third Balloon, Wine & Polo Festival Nov. 15-17 at the Empire Polo Club, 81-800 Avenue 51, Indio. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children 12 and under. Proceeds will benefit the College of the Desert Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports educational endeavors. For more information, call (619) 775-1715. Quiz Answer: Chile; the seaport city is Punta Arenas.