A 33-member Russian expedition followed by a 27-strong Indian team will attempt on the world's highest peak, 8,848-meter Mount Qomolangma, of the Himalayas which locate at the China-Nepal border.

Zhang Mingxing, secretary general of the Tibetan Mountaineering Association, said Tuesday that the Russian team will arrive on March 25 and the Indian one on March 26.

"The two teams will reach the base camp at the foot of Mount Qomolangma from the end of March to early April. They will leave in June." Zhang said.

"In a bid to provide good service for foreign climbers in this season, liason officers and interpreters will soon be sent to the mountainous area," he added.

Tibet boasts five above-8,000m-high peaks. Since the end of 1980s, more than 10,000 climbers from 40 countries and regions have come for mountaineering and expedition.

"The number of the climbers coming in this Spring is expected to be the same as that in the same period of last year," Zhang said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 17, 2004)