Mountain guide, Adrian Ballinger, who has summited Earth’s highest mountain above sea level eight times, is one of the several guides who chooses the route through Tibet—the northern side of the world’s highest mountain—to the peak over the route through Nepal on the southern side of Everest.

The China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) issues all passes to use the Chinese route up the mountain—known as Qomolangma in Tibetan—instead of a tourism council or official in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

The Chinese government has not yet released an official announcement telling the public that Tibet will provide access to the summit.

CNN quotes Ballinger as saying: “The best way for a non-Chinese climber to know that the Tibet side of Everest will be open is when the CTMA sends out a price list for the season. These lists include the costs of yaks (which carry gear up and down the mountain), local guides, translators, and transport from Tibet’s capital of Lhasa to Everest Base Camp.”

Foreign mountaineers with Chinese tourist visas need to get another separate Tibetan visa. The CTMA supports mountaineers in the application process. As many as 300 passes a year are available for non-Chinese nationals.

The best time to climb Everest is usually between the last week of April and mid-May.

“While Nepal has the more famous and more photographed path to the peak of Everest, the greater number of visitors correlates to more trash, more erosion, and more human waste,” CNN reports.

“Climbing from the Chinese side used to be more popular than climbing from the Nepali side. So from about 2000 to 2007, the Chinese side was the more popular side, and it was commonly understood that the reason it was more popular is because it was safer,” Ballinger explains.