Everest Climbers Will Face New Rules After Deadly Season

Eleven people died during the spring climbing season this year

Nepal Is Making It Harder to Climb Mount Everest
Mount Everest on May 27, 2019. (PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty)
AFP/Getty Images

Following an especially deadly spring climbing season this year, officials in Nepal are going to tighten the requirements for issuing permits to scale the 29,000-foot mountain.

A Nepal government committee is going to implement a regulation which will require climbers to prove they’ve previously climbed at least one other mountain in Nepal with an elevation of 21,325 feet or higher. Each climber would also be required to have a guide who would also need to prove they had guided high-altitude expeditions for at least three years, according to Adventure Journal.

The fee for climbing the mountain with an expedition company would also rise to $35,000 in order to help weed out low-cost climbing teams without the proper training and equipment to summit Everest safely.

If imposed, the measures will surely cut down on the record number of permits (381) Nepal issued this year. Those permits cost $11,000 and allowed anyone who had one to climb the mountain, regardless of experience. That oversight was a contributing factor to 11 dying or going missing on the mountain this season, nine on the Nepalese side and two on the Tibetan side

“We will take this forward by amending the laws and regulations. We will make our mountains safe, managed and dignified,” tourism minister Yogesh Bhattari told reporters, the BBC reported.

As it’s going to be more difficult than ever to summit Everest going forward, we suggest taking this route instead courtesy of John Oliver.

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