Mount Everest: Nepal hits climbers with higher permit fees

The cost to climb Mount Everest will rapidly boost for the first time in almost a century, as Nepal announces a strong mark-up in force costs.

From September, those seeking to summit the world’s tallest mountain during peak season will have to pay$ 15,000 ( £12,180 ), a 36 % rise in the longstanding fee of$ 11,000, officials said on Wednesday.

Fees for those wanting to climb outside the peak April to May period will also increase by the same percentage- meaning it will cost$ 7,500 during September to November, and$ 3,750 during December to February.

Income from force costs is a vital source of revenue for Nepal, with rock climbing and sightseeing contributing more than 4 % to the country’s business.

Mountaineering professionals often criticise Nepal’s state for allowing too many climbing on Everest, but, with about 300 enables to the hill issued per month.

It is unclear if the price improve, which was under discussion since last year, did slow demand.

” The royalty ( permit fees ) had not been reviewed for a long time,” Narayan Prasad Regmi, director general of the Department of Tourism, told Reuters. ” We have updated them today. “

Regmi did not specify how the additional income would be used.

In April 2024, Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered the authorities to limit the number of skiing permits issued for Mountain and other mountains, saying that the hills ‘ power “must be respected”.

The initial purchase did not set a highest number, though.

Amid worries about overcrowding on Mountain and climbers queuing in hazardous conditions to reach the summit, the Egyptian army in 2019 began conducting an quarterly clean-up of the rock, which is often described as the nation’s highest garbage dump.

In that time at least five clean-ups have collected 119 tonnes of rubbish, 14 human corpses and some skeletons, according to the army- but it is estimated that a further 200 bodies remain on the mountain.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Everest.