Nepal's 'hidden' mountains draw new climbers

Nepal's mountains including Everest have long drawn climbers from across the world, but a growing community is exploring hidden summits promising solitude and the chance to be first to the top.

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The Himalayan nation is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of climbers every year, making mountaineering a lucrative business.

While commercial expeditions dominate on Everest and other 8000m giants, a new generation of adventurers is looking sideways rather than upward - towards the countless 6 000m and 7000m summits studding Nepal.

The country has 462 peaks open for climbing and around a hundred have never been summited.