Climbers flock to Everest before permit fees hike
Nepal is preparing for an exceptionally high number of climbers on Mount Everest this spring, before fees are set to rise by almost a third to US$15,000 (RM64,455).
The number of permits issued to climb the world's highest mountain is already higher than in 2024, ahead of the usual peak demand in early May, officials have announced.
So far, more than 430 permits had been issued to applicants from 52 countries, compared to a total of 421 last year, according to figures from the Tourism Department of Nepal's Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation (DoT).
'This is not the final number, as climbers are still coming and applying for permits,' said DoT spokesman Liladhar Awasthi in Kathmandu.
The increase is not only due to individual schedules, said Mingma Sherpa of the private tour operator Seven Summit Treks. The planned hike in permit fees also plays a role, he added. Some of his clients are still awaiting approval for the pre-monsoon season.
Standing at 8,849m, Mount Everest lies on the border between Nepal and China. Climbers can ascend the mountain from either country.
The Nepali government plans to significantly increase climbing permit fees for foreign climbers starting Sept 1.
The official fee of US$11,000 (RM47,267) currently charged for ascents via the so-called southern route during the main season will rise to US$15,000.
Additionally, a draft law, currently under consideration in Nepal's parliament, would require climbers to prove they have previously climbed a mountain over 7,000m before receiving a permit to climb Everest. Whether the new law will pass remains unclear.
Scepticism prevails among experts.
'What is the real difference between climbing a 7,000m peak and an 8,000m peak?' the newspaper The Kathmandu Post quoted the former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Ang Tshring Sherpa, as saying.
'You can die on both.'
Climbing fees and other expenses paid by mountaineers are important sources of revenue for the impoverished country.
Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 mountains that rise above 8,000m.
DoT figures show climbers from the United Sates hold the highest number of permits at 82, followed by India with 74 and China with 60. Britain has 28 climbers, Russia 23, Brazil 16, Ukraine, Japan and Australia 12 each.
Spring, the most popular season for climbing Everest, runs from mid-April through early June, drawing climbers from around the world and sometimes causing traffic jams around the so-called death zone with low oxygen concentration.
Operators said that hundreds of climbers have already gathered at the Everest Base Camp for acclimatisation, a ritual preparation phase before summit attempts.
Experienced Sherpas known as icefall doctors, have successfully opened the route up to Camp II, establishing a path through the Khumbu glacier with ladders and fixed ropes.
As in previous years, new records are expected to be set. Notably, Kami Rita Sherpa, who holds the record for the most Everest ascents, with 30, is leading another expedition and could improve his record if successful.
Mount Everest straddles the border between Nepal and the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China, with climbers able to ascend from either side. Since the first successful ascent by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary in 1953, more than 12,000 summits have been recorded, according to the Himalayan Database. – dpa
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