An advance team of the country's first amateur mountaineering expedition left Tibet yesterday for the world's highest peak, 8,848-meter Mount Qomolangma in the Himalayas on the China-Nepal border.

　　The expedition is scheduled to launch its attempt to reach the peak sometime in May, depending on weather conditions. Among the 40-plus members are a company CEO, general manager, chairman of a board of directors, an IT engineer, college teacher, bank employee and government functionary. Their ages range from 33 to 52 years.