Nepal is set to raise the permit fees for climbing Mount Everest by 36%, marking the first increase in nearly a decade, according to officials. The hike will make the world’s tallest peak more costly for mountaineers.
The income generated from permit fees and spending by foreign climbers is a vital source of revenue and employment for Nepal, a country that hosts eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains.
The permit for the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) Everest will now cost $15,000 (£12,000), an increase from the previous $11,000 fee, which had remained unchanged for nearly ten years, announced Narayan Prasad Regmi, the director general of Nepal’s Department of Tourism.
“The royalty fees hadn’t been updated for a long time. We’ve now revised them,” Regmi explained.
The new fees will take effect in September and will apply to the popular April-May climbing season along the South East Ridge or South Col route, which was first traversed by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953.
The fees for the less popular September-November season and the rarely attempted December-February season will also see a 36% increase, bringing them to $7,500 and $3,750 respectively.
Some expedition organizers, who had been anticipating the increase since last year, don’t believe the hike will deter climbers. Approximately 300 permits are granted annually for Everest.
“We expected this rise in permit fees,” said Lukas Furtenbach of the Austrian expedition company Furtenbach Adventures. He described it as a “reasonable step” by the Nepalese government and expressed hope that the additional funds would be directed toward environmental protection and enhancing safety on Everest.
Regmi did not specify how the extra revenue would be allocated.
Each year, hundreds of climbers attempt to summit Everest and other peaks in the Himalayas. Nepal has faced criticism from mountaineering experts for permitting too many climbers on Everest and for not taking sufficient action to preserve its cleanliness and safety.
Regmi stated that regular campaigns to collect waste, fix ropes, and implement safety measures are carried out.
Climbers returning from Everest have reported that the mountain is increasingly dry and rocky, with less snow or precipitation, a change that experts attribute to global warming or other environmental factors.
