Nepal has announced that it will increase the fees for climbing Mount Everest by more than 35%, making it more expensive for climbers. This change is the first of its kind in nearly ten years. The fees from climbing permits help support the country, which has eight of the world’s tallest mountains, including Mount Everest.
Starting in September, getting a permit to climb Mount Everest, which stands at 8,849 meters tall, will cost $15,000 instead of the previous $11,000. Narayan Prasad Regmi, the director-general of the Department of Tourism, mentioned that the fees hadn’t been updated for a long time, so they made this change.
The new fees will also apply to other climbing seasons. For climbing from September to November, the fee will now be $7,500, and for the winter months of December to February, it will cost $3,750.
Some expedition organizers, like Lukas Furtenbach from Furtenbach Adventures, believe that this increase won’t stop climbers from going to Everest. He stated, “We expected this hike in permit fees,” adding that it is a reasonable decision from Nepal’s government.
Regmi did not specify how the additional money will be used, but he mentioned that the government organizes cleaning campaigns to remove garbage and improve safety on Everest. Climbers have noted that the mountain is becoming drier and rockier, possibly due to global warming or other changes in the environment.
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