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National Geographic
4 days ago
- Politics
- National Geographic
Climbing Mount Everest may get even harder
Last month, as the 2025 climbing season began on Mount Everest , Nepal's upper house of Parliament introduced a tourism bill that includes a suite of new rules that would significantly raise the bar for who is allowed to attempt the mountain, who can guide, and how much it will cost. This year's proposal includes a mandate that Everest hopefuls must first climb a 7,000-meter peak located in Nepal, as well as requirements for all guides to be Nepalese citizens, for medical certificates confirming good health to be obtained from approved in-country facilities, new garbage fees, and insurance to cover the costly removal of dead bodies from the mountain. The Washington Post reported that the cost of removing a dead body from Mount Everest ranges anywhere between $30,000-$70,000. Announcements like this happen almost every year: The government floats new rules intended to improve safety and accountability on the peak, such as banning solo climbers and helicopters, or requiring tracking chips and feces removal. But they're rarely implemented. This is due to pushback from guiding companies, and an inability to pass the proposed legislation. The current bill is still in draft form and would still need to go through both houses of Parliament, meaning that changes are likely. (National Geographic crew finds clues to Everest's lost explorer, Sandy Irvin e ) A high-altitude expedition team crosses a crevasse on Mount Everest. Photograph by Mark Fisher, Nat Geo Image Collection The most controversial rules are the 7,000-meter peak requirement and the Nepali guide requirement. Both rules have been proposed before, or are very similar to previous proposals, but have never been passed into law. According to Lakpa Rita Sherpa, who guided on Mount Everest for two decades and has summited the peak 17 times, some of these new ideas are generally good—such as making sure climbers have some experience at altitude—but similar ones have been proposed in the past and 'they've never been passed or enforced.' He cited the difficulty of implementing these rules, which would require the government to track compliance across hundreds of companies and climbers, amidst high turnover in the Ministry of Tourism and the prevalence of bribery in the country. (The Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on alleged bribery in Nepal.) '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 in order to attract more people to come,' said 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. '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 did not respond to requests for comment. Helicopters land and take off from the heli pad at Base Camp amidst rescues of injured climbers from Camp 2. Photograph by Max Lowe, Nat Geo Image Collecion Safety vs. tourism dollars Tourism is one of the largest industries in Nepal , and Mount Everest—the world's tallest peak—is its crown jewel. According to the most recent tourism data, there are 374 climbers from 49 countries on Mount Everest this year, which has generated $4 million in royalties from permit fees alone. (Compared to $2.48 million for 359 people in 2015). As high numbers of climbers continue to flock to the peak each year, the country reaps economic benefits but also has to reckon with the issues it brings—like on-mountain traffic jams , issues with trash and waste management , and increased fatalities . In 2023, 18 climbers died on Everest , and in 2024 eight climbers died. Some of the most common causes of death on the mountain are acute mountain sickness (AMS), falls, illness/exhaustion, disappearance, and avalanches. With an increased number of people on the mountain, support staff must ferry a higher volume of gear through the dangerous Khumbu Icefall—the location of an avalanche that killed 16 Sherpas in 2015 while they were doing just that. (Microplastics found near Everest's peak) That same year, citing safety reasons, Alpenglow Expeditions moved its Everest expeditions from the South Side of the peak in Nepal to the North Side, in Tibet, writing that the Nepalese side 'has become overcrowded with inexperienced team members and unqualified guides.' The North Side is far less crowded and far more rigid when it comes to rules, said Lakpa Rita. 'In China, you have to follow the rules no matter what,' he said. 'If you don't follow them, you won't get a permit to climb.' ExplorersWeb reported in September 2024 rules set by the China-Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) that stipulate climbers must submit a climbing resume and medical certificate, have climbed a 7,000-meter peak, be accompanied by a professional mountain guide, and use oxygen above 7,000 meters. (In 2016, Melissa Arnot Reid became the first American woman to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen. She climbed from the Tibet side.) Two climbers participate in an early morning trek in the Khumbu Icefall with Pumori Peak illuminated in the background. Photograph by Eric Daft, Nat Geo Image Collection An expedition member steps across a bridge of aluminum ladders lashed together above a crevasse in the Khumbu Icefall. Photograph by Andy Bardon, Nat Geo Image Collection 7,000-meter experience requirement One of the more controversial proposals is that climbers must have successfully summited one of the 7,000-meter peaks within Nepal before attempting Everest. This rule would not count summits of 7,000-meter peaks in other countries, such as Denali or Aconcagua, or the popular prep climb of Nepal's Ama Dablam (just shy of the requirement at 6,812 meters). While the aim is to ensure that only those with proven high-altitude experience are allowed on the mountain following several deadly seasons marked by overcrowding and underprepared clients, Arnette said that many of the accepted 7,000-meter peaks are 'remote and dangerous.' They include peaks like Annapurna IV, Api Himal, Tilicho Peak, and Baruntse. There should be leeway for popular peaks, like Denali and Aconcagua to count toward this requirement, he said. The reaction from the climbing community has been positive in regard to increasing the experience level of Everest hopefuls, and the pushback is mostly around the specifics of the rule and which peaks count. Garrett Madison of Madison Mountaineering told CNN that a 6,500-meter anywhere in the world would be a better idea. 'We are generally in favor of any rules that would increase the skills and experience of aspiring Everest climbers,' said Suze Kelly, Director of Adventure Consultants, a New Zealand-based guiding company. 'And would thus discourage people from rocking up with the approach that they can attempt the summit with no prior experience, as we see each year with many of the low-cost outfitters who are prolific in Nepal.' There have been many articles written about inexperienced climbers on the peak putting themselves or others in danger—Lakpa Rita Sherpa said he's seen people who've never put on a crampon before who come to attempt the summit. This type of climbing prerequisite has been floated a few times over the past 30 years, with the government proposing a requirement for climbers to summit a 6,000-meter peak before Everest. The rule was discarded following pushback from expedition companies and climbers. 'The reason people don't want to cut the numbers on Everest is they're worried they'll lose work,' said Lakpa Rita, who has spoken with officials in the past to find ways to address overcrowding. 'It's all about the money.' (What to know about climbing the world's tallest mountain) Medical screenings All climbers would need to submit a medical certificate from within the last month, and from a government-approved medical institution in Nepal to confirm they're in good health. This would require a person to pay for an expedition, travel to Nepal, and perhaps be told they're not in good enough health to climb. Arnette thinks that regardless of the law, it's a good idea to get a rigorous health check prior to climbing—like a cardiac stress test for climbers over 50, and a check of iron levels for female climbers.
CBC
19-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Audit shows how promotions and pay bumps contributed to TVDSB's $16M deficit
Social Sharing An investigation into the Thames Valley District School Board's finances found instances of mismanagement, including promotions and executive pay raises without trustee approval. The audit into southwestern Ontario's largest school board was done by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) over the course of 10 month, finishing in mid-April. It was quietly posted to the province's website. The Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) currently faces a $16-million deficit. In April, shortly after the audit was finished, the province appointed a supervisor to oversee the board, and took authority away from trustees. Those decisions were made after it was discovered that senior administrators spent $40,000 on a retreat to Toronto last fall. The director of education, Mark Fisher, resigned six months later and numerous senior executives remain on paid leave. PWC's 142-page audit details how TVDSB didn't comply with its own compensation rules that would become the "underlying reasons for its deteriorating financial position." It identified a total of seven instances of non-compliance, including two where the board didn't abide by its own policies and procedures, and five violations of the Ministry of Education's approved compensation rules for senior administration. The report found Fisher promoted the board's General Counsel, Ali Chahbar into a superintendent role, without the board's approval during the 2022-23 school year. The position came with a $24,000 pay upgrade. In July 2024, Fisher promoted a superintendent to an associate director of education position with a $40,000 salary bump, again without board approval. The individual returned to a superintendent role a few months later in October but continued to ear $239,000, due to a clause in the contract. The superintendent is not named in the report, however, CBC has previously reported that superintendent Andrew Canham was an associate director during that time. He is on a paid leave. Chahbar also resigned as chair of the London Police Service Board earlier this month, citing health reasons. Wages for the director of education, superintendent, and executive officer roles rose by 8.8 per cent, 27.9 per cent and 17.9 per cent, respectively, the audit found. COVID costs Other infractions included two new executive hires who were paid more than they should have been, the audit concluded. When the pandemic hit, Fisher, superintendents and executive officers received a 10 per cent stipend for the increased scope of their work, despite a prohibition on new compensation elements at the time. "These stipends ranged between $15,526 to $23,950 annually, per executive, for a period of 20 months," the report said, adding trustees approved the stipend after seeking externa legal advice. TVDSB went from having a $3.5 million surplus in 2020-21 to an in-year deficit of $17.32 million in 2023-24, the report said. The board's financial situation is expected to improve in the 2024-25 school year as the deficit drops to $16.8 million, it added. 'There needs to be a refocus' union head says Craig Smith, president of the Thames Valley local of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO), said this audit should serve as a lesson in rethinking priorities that put the focus on supporting students and teachers. "I think we've drifted a bit away from that and we need to use this as an opportunity," Smith said Monday. "This isn't just one trip to Toronto that caused this. This has been a situation that's been in the making for a number of years. I think as tough as it's going to be for the next year or two for the, board, it's very critical that it happens and it happens right." Staff absenteeism a problem The audit also found the board's deficit was not made any better by the high level of staff absenteeism that led to higher costs for supply staff. PWC also noted the over-projected enrolment rates that resulted in $3.5 million excess spending for teachers in 2023-24 and $2.4 million in 2024-25. The audit also found increased spending on technology and cybersecurity initiatives. "The board was unable to adjust its expenses promptly when the financial pressures became apparent during the revised estimates period and later in the year," the report said. "Consequently, TVDSB had hired additional teachers and incurred other expenses that could not be retracted due to contractual obligations. To mitigate this in the future, TVDSB plans to adopt a more conservative approach to enrolment forecasting, relying on actual registrations without upward adjustments for development or migration." Report finds cost-cutting measures The board has already implemented cost cutting measures to reduce the 2024-25 deficit between $15.9 million to $13.7 million, depending on their success. These include: a reduction in bus monitoring staff procurement savings educational assistant return-to-work programs transitioning from in-person to online summer school merging schools reviewing the door-to-door transportation model ending Beal's transportation program While it's important to make certain cuts, they shouldn't be made just for the sake of saving money, Smith said, adding that the board instead needs to look at how these cuts are impacting services for students. "There's also the management culture of the board, it's very top-heavy in terms of administration and that needs to be looked at seriously because there are fixed costs the board can't avoid, but there are some things they need to do."
Scotsman
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Here & Now showcase aims to 'push boundaries' at Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Whether theatre, dance or art installation, the work in this year's Here & Now showcase aims to surprise as well as to entertain, writes Mark Fisher Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... For all the stress, expense and commitment of bringing a show to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, there are reasons performers keep coming back. They include the excitement of participating in the world's biggest arts festival, the chance to meet fellow artists and the opportunity to see great shows around the clock. There is also something else: given the right conditions, a run on the Fringe is an invaluable way to be seen by the right people. If you are spotted by a producer, it can sustain your career for the rest of the year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Kate Craddock, artistic director of Here & Now, a showcase of productions from England, gives an example. Last year, the choreographer Patrick Ziza performed Dandyism in Edinburgh and has hardly paused for breath since. 'Their journey has just been incredible,' she says. 'They're going to Brazil, Toronto, Norway, and they've been in New York. They were all direct invitations from the Here & Now delegates. It's extraordinary for them. And that's just one example.' Khalid Abdall in Nowhere | Helen Murray Such success is not a given. The intention of Here & Now, which returns to the Fringe this August, is 'to challenge ideas about what performance created in England might look like'. It is not, in other words, a sturdy collection of classical dramas. No rounded vowels and grand soliloquies here. Rather, it is a line-up of theatre, dance and art installation that aims to surprise as well as to entertain. 'All the works are finished and ready to go but also they're experimenting with form in some way,' says Craddock. 'They're pushing at the boundaries of what you might otherwise see at the Fringe.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As with similar Fringe programmes from countries including Scotland, Belgium and South Korea, Here & Now presents a line-up of half-a-dozen shows that would normally be impossible for international programmers to see in such a short period. This year, it has invited a 30-strong delegation of its own, in addition to the many other programmers who will be in town. 'The level of exposure is unbeatable,' she says. So much for the industry. Craddock is adamant that Here & Now would be nothing if it did not connect with audiences. Brought up in Glasgow and now living in north-east England, she has fashioned a programme she hopes will have local as well as international appeal. 'It's really important to me to make connections with people who are in Edinburgh year round,' says Craddock, who also runs the Gateshead International Festival Of Theatre (GIFT). Andy Smith's A Citizens' Assembly | Ross Finnie Nowhere more is that the case than in Andy Smith's A Citizens' Assembly, a climate crisis show that turns the audience into actors. The aim is to transform us from helpless victims of global heating into activists trying to do something about it. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'You're inviting the audience to be the work,' says Craddock. 'It goes from a scripted, constructed conversation to something that is free. I programmed it last year in Newcastle and it resonated with everybody. In Edinburgh, it will be presented in St Columba's by the Castle and we're already inviting climate justice groups and community groups who engage with the church.' The season also includes the welcome return of Last Rites by Glasgow performer Ramesh Meyyappan in collaboration with George Mann, director of Bristol's Ad Infinitum. Seen briefly in Scotland last year, it is both an exquisite portrait of a funeral ritual, as a son lays an estranged father to rest, and an angry condemnation of a society that discriminates against users of sign language. Last Rites by Ad Infinitum | Mihaela Bodlovic Elsewhere, Sleight of Hand by Jo Bannon is a sensory touch tour aiming to make us experience the world anew; Nowhere by Khalid Abdalla is a multimedia reflection on the 2011 Egyptian revolution (Abdalla will be familiar to fans of Netflix series The Crown thanks to his role as Dodi Fayed); and IV by SERAFINE1369 is a dance piece exploring stillness. 'Politics are prevalent this year, and there is a breadth of lived experience and the communities being represented,' says Craddock. At the meeting point of the personal, the political and the joyful is The Legends Of Them by Sutara Gayle. Running at Zoo Southside, it is a one-woman spiritual awakening that reflects a life of extraordinary highs and lows. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Once best known as a reggae singer, under the name of Lorna Gee, Gayle reinvented herself as an actor at the age of 40 and now has a CV that stretches from The Dark Knight to Ghosts. Tragically, in 1985, her sister, Cherry Groce, was paralysed after being shot by the Metropolitan police, a mistake that sparked the Brixton riots. As if that were not enough, Gayle's show also takes in stories of prison, sexual assault and a spiritual renaming ceremony. Sutara Gayle in Legends of Them | Harry Elletson With a mother who was part of the Windrush generation and a sister with a pivotal place in London's history, Gayle sees politics everywhere. 'Even the joyfulness is politics, man!' she grins with the infectious happiness of a woman who has come to terms with her past. Rather than opening old wounds, she has found the process of revisiting these traumas to be liberating. 'It's proven to be very healthy,' says Gayle, whose show emerged from a silent retreat. 'All these stories were coming to me; things I hadn't thought about for 40 years. It was the first time I had been silent in my life and, all of a sudden, these things started coming up. I realised it was stuff I had buried.' She continues: 'Because things were quite traumatic, I chose not to deal with them. This is sometimes what we do. I didn't want to feel that pain again. But if you don't deal with it, it's going to be there. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I held shame for so many years. It stopped me from doing what I really wanted to do. I'm 62 and the rest of my life I'm going to live happy. Anything I do, I'm going to do from a place of joy and love, not fear. I've held on to fear for too long. There came a point when I thought I'm going to bare myself naked. It has been really freeing, a weight off my shoulders. And watching the show sets you free.'
Boston Globe
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
John Krasinski will star in Off Broadway play
'Angry Alan' premiered to generally positive reviews in 2018 at Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Mark Fisher, a critic for Though Roger is 'not a monster,' according to Fisher's review, he 'falls for the myth of a gynocentric conspiracy that blames feminism for his reduced status in the world,' and 'finds a warped form of enlightenment to compensate for a perceived erosion of male power.' Advertisement In the decade-plus since 'The Office' ended, Krasinski, 45, has kept busy with multiple projects. He cowrote, directed, and starred in the horror film ' 'Angry Alan' will mark a return to the New York stage for Krasinski, who starred in the 2016 Off-Broadway premiere of Sarah Burgess's 'Dry Powder,' set in the dog-eat-dog world of high finance, along with Claire Danes, Hank Azaria, and Sanjit De Silva. Don Aucoin can be reached at
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Maryland Freedom Caucus calls for rollbacks on green energy policy: ‘It isn't working'
BALTIMORE — The Maryland Freedom Caucus railed against the cost of previously passed green energy legislation Thursday afternoon and called for repeals as utility bills for ratepayers continue to climb. 'The reckless green agenda sounds like a great idea, except that it isn't working,' Del. Mark Fisher, a Calvert County Republican, said at an Annapolis press conference. 'The green agenda won't provide the people of Maryland enough power to generate our economy.' U.S. Rep. Andy Harris and the Maryland House Freedom Caucus are demanding that Gov. Wes Moore and the Democratic majority legislature roll back climate change and energy efficiency policy, which they say will 'immediately' lower utility bills. Del. Kathy Szeliga, a representative of Baltimore County, said that she has heard from constituents who are forced to choose between keeping their lights on or paying for food because their bills are so high. 'What we're hearing from the other side are some puffy, long-term solutions,' Szeliga said. 'We have yet to hear one thing that will lower residents' electric bills immediately. We have a solution for that.' Del. Brian Chisholm of Anne Arundel County is sponsoring House Bill 1451, which would alter provisions of the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 to read 'to the extent economically practicable.' 'In layman's terms, it means if it's going to bankrupt you, you don't have to do it,' he said. The Climate Solutions Now Act requires the state to reduce its emissions by 60% below 2006 levels by 2031 and to make the state carbon neutral by 2045. It also requires owners of large buildings to take steps to significantly reduce or offset the use of fossil fuels by 2030. Republicans have criticized the policy, saying their constituents will shoulder most of the cost of upgrading energy systems. Though the House Freedom Caucus represents just a sliver of the 39 Republicans elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, members of the minority party in both chambers have decried the Democratic desire to move away from coal and oil. 'We're not saying solar and wind are bad,' Fisher said. 'We're saying that they don't provide sufficient power, and we shouldn't be using taxpayer money for that purpose.' Chisholm's bill would also repeal the EmPOWER Maryland Program, a utility-customer-funded program established by the legislature in 2008 to increase energy efficiency and lower utility costs by using less energy. Funded by a surcharge on ratepayer energy bills, EmPOWER provides appliance rebates, home weatherization, combined heat and power programs and other energy efficiency measures administered through Maryland's largest utility companies and the state Department of Housing and Community Development. To lower the strain on Marylanders' wallets, the General Assembly passed legislation last year prohibiting utility companies from deferring program costs that eventually cause their customers to pay interest. Chisholm called the EmPOWER Program a 'slush fund.' St. Mary's County representative Del. Matt Morgan estimated that its repeal could reduce utility bills for average ratepayers by around $40 monthly. Emily Scarr, a senior advisor at the Baltimore-based public interest nonprofit Maryland PIRG, said that Republican attacks on EmPOWER are 'misguided at best.' 'The key factors driving up people's heating bills this winter are overspending by gas utilities on new infrastructure and volatile gas prices, not the state's successful energy efficiency program,' she said. According to Maryland PIRG, the EmPOWER program reduced electrical use by 15% by 2015 and saved ratepayers $4 billion by 2024. In their work with Harris, the small cohort of conservatives has also requested that the federal government intervene. Earlier this week, the Maryland Freedom Caucus sent a letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright, asking him to prevent the closure of two Maryland power plants — one coal-burning and the other fueled by oil. 'The consequences of these closures cannot be overstated,' they wrote. 'Maryland residents are already struggling under high energy costs, and further reductions in in-state generation will push electricity prices even higher.' For his part, Harris said that the U.S. House majority party is planning to roll back significant portions of the Green New Deal in the budget resolution it intends to present ahead of the March 14 deadline to prevent a government shutdown. In their response to utility rate hikes and Maryland's reliance on energy from other states, General Assembly Democrats are sponsoring a package of comprehensive green energy bills. Maryland is on an energy grid run by PJM, which it shares with 12 other states and Washington, D.C. PJM recently predicted that the region could see an energy capacity shortage as early as June 2026. Currently, 40% of Maryland's electricity is generated by out-of-state sources. The bills, sponsored by Senate President Bill Ferguson, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and other legislative leadership members, seek to reduce the need to build additional transmission lines and allow the state to determine which sources — like natural gas, nuclear, solar or other generation — its energy comes from. Climate advocates are frustrated that the bills leave the door open for the potential of new gas power plants in Maryland. 'Maryland ratepayers should not be on the hook to subsidize gas plants that will have a negative impact on their health and worsen our vulnerability to the climate crisis,' Carlo Sanchez, the chair of the Maryland chapter of the Sierra Club, said in a statement Wednesday. 'Gas plants take years to build, and therefore wouldn't provide any ratepayer relief anytime soon.' Ferguson said Tuesday that he is 'frustrated' that the state is in a place where that has to be an option but sees it as a bridge to cleaner sources. 'I've really dug into the energy bill crisis that we are now facing,' he said. 'It's become clear to me that the demand is going to continue to increase and supply is not keeping up for energy that's here. If we could do it fully renewable — if we could do it just through batteries — I would be all for it.' --------
