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Raising the Bar: Here’s Why Mount Everest May Become Even More Difficult to Climb

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MOUNT EVEREST, Nepal – A tourism bill that includes several new regulations that would drastically raise the bar for who may attempt the mountain, who can provide guidance, and how much it will cost was adopted by Nepal’s upper house of Parliament last month, just as the 2025 climbing season on Mount Everest got underway.

According to this year’s proposal, Everest aspirants must first ascend a 7,000-meter peak in Nepal. Additionally, all guides must be citizens of Nepal, medical certificates attesting to their good health must be obtained from authorised in-country facilities, new garbage fees must be paid, and insurance must be purchased to cover the high cost of removing dead bodies from the mountain.

According to the Washington Post, the price range for transporting a deceased person from Mount Everest is between $30,000 (Sh3.8 million) and $70,000 (Sh9 million).

Such announcements occur nearly annually: The government proposes new regulations aimed at enhancing safety and accountability on the summit, like prohibiting helicopters and lone climbers or mandating the removal of faeces and monitoring chips.

However, they are rarely used. This is a result of the proposed legislation’s failure to pass and opposition from guiding corporations. Changes are anticipated because the current law is still in draft form and has to pass both chambers of Parliament.

What are some of the ideas floated for one to climb the Everest

The Nepali guide requirement and the 7,000-meter summit requirement are the most contentious regulations. Despite being either previously presented or very similar to other suggestions, neither rule has ever been enacted into law.

Some of these new ideas, like requiring climbers to have some altitude experience, are generally good, but similar ones have been proposed in the past and “they’ve never been passed or enforced,” according to Lakpa Rita Sherpa, who has been a guide on Mount Everest for 20 years and has climbed the peak 17 times.

Given the high turnover in the Ministry of Tourism and the pervasiveness of bribery in the nation, he pointed to the challenge of putting these regulations into effect, which would require the government to monitor compliance across hundreds of businesses and climbers. (A request for comment regarding suspected bribery in Nepal was not answered by the Ministry.)  

Why Nepal has failed to implement some of these Everest ideas

“The reason they do it is to promote business, and to give the impression that they’re trying to make mountain climbing in Nepal safer to attract more people to come,” Alan Arnette, who summited Everest in 2011 and is a longtime Everest blogger, and who has been keeping track of these annual rule proposals for over a decade told National Geographic.

In his own words, he went on: “The reason that it doesn’t get implemented is because the operators don’t follow the rules, and then the government doesn’t enforce the rules—because everybody knows that if they enforce some of these rules that it would cause business to drop.”

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Nepal Tourism Board are yet to respond to requests for comment.

One of Nepal’s biggest industries is tourism, and the country’s crown jewel is Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world. Mount Everest has brought in $4 million (Sh516 million) in royalties from permission fees alone this year, with 374 climbers from 49 nations, according to the most recent tourism data. (In comparison to 359 individuals receiving $2.48 million <Sh320 million> in 2015).

What are he most frequent causes of mortality on Everest

The nation benefits economically from the large number of climbers who visit the top each year, but it also faces challenges like as traffic congestion on the mountain, problems with garbage and rubbish management, and a rise in mortality.

Additionally, it should not go without mentioning that eight climbers lost their lives on Everest in 2024, and 18 in 2023.

For instance, Kenyan climber Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui died on Mount Everest in May 2024 while attempting to summit without supplemental oxygen.

His body will remain on the mountain, as announced by his family. Kirui, aged 40, and his Nepali guide Nawang Sherpa, 44, went missing during the climb. This attempt was Kirui’s effort to become the first Kenyan to summit Everest without oxygen.

The most frequent causes of mortality on the mountain include avalanches, falls, illness/exhaustion, acute mountain sickness (AMS), and disappearance. Support workers must transport more equipment via the hazardous Khumbu Icefall, where an avalanche killed 16 Sherpas in 2015 when they were doing just that, due to the increased number of people on the mountain.

Dennis Lubanga
Dennis Lubanga
Dennis Lubanga, an expert in politics, climate change, and food security, now enhances Y News with his seasoned storytelling skills.

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