Nepal Plans To Restrict Everest Climbing Permits For Experienced Climbers

Illustration of climbing the summit of Everest. (Wikimedia Commons/Bijaya2043)

JAKARTA - Nepalese authorities will issue permission to climb Puncak Everest, the Himayala Mountains only for climbers who have experience climbing at least one of the country's 7,000 meters high peaks (22,965 ft), according to a new draft law aimed at reducing climber density and improving safety.

Nepal, which relies heavily on climbing, exploration, and tourism to gain foreign exchange, has faced criticism for allowing too many climbers, including the inexperienced, to try climbing the summit of Everest as high as 8,849 meters (29,032 feet).

This often results in long queues of climbers in 'Zona Death', areas below the peak with insufficient natural oxygen to survive.

The climber's density has been blamed for the high number of deaths on the mountain. At least 12 climbers died, and five others were missing on the slopes of Everest in 2023, when Nepal issued 478 permits. Meanwhile, eight climbers died last year.

Under the bill, Everest' climbing permit will only be issued after a climber provides evidence of climbing at least one 7,000 meter high mountain in Nepal.

The partners, or local chiefs of staff, and mountain guides accompanying climbers must also be Nepalese citizens.

The bill has been registered in the National Assembly, the upper house of parliament, where the ruling alliance holds the majority needed to pass the bill.

Meanwhile, international expedition operators have urged Nepal to allow any peak as high as 7,000 meters, not only those in the Himalayan country, to obtain Everest' climbing permit.

"That doesn't make sense. And I will also add mountains that are close to 7,000 meters high to the list and that are widely used as preparation, such as Ama Dablam, Aconcagua, Denali, and others," said Lukas Furtenbach of Austrian-based expedition organizer Furtenbach Adventures.

Furtenbach, who is currently leading an expedition on Everest, said mountain guides from other countries should also be allowed to work on Everest, as the number of qualified Nepalese mountain guides is insufficient.

"It is important for mountain guides to have qualifications such as IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guidelines), regardless of nationality. We also welcome Nepal's IFMGA guides to work in the Alps in Europe," he told Reuters.

Madison Madison Madison Mountainearing, based in the United States, said the 6,500-meter peak anywhere in the world would be a better idea.

"It's too difficult to find a summit as high as 7,000 meters or more in Nepal," Madison explained.

It is known, there are more than 400 mountain peaks in Nepal that are open to expeditions - among them, 74 of which are higher than 7,000 meters high, according to data from the Tourism Department.

However, not many of these peaks are popular with climbers, said climbing officials.

"Only a few of the 7,000-meter-high mountain are attracting climbers," said Tashi Lhakpa Sherpa of 14 Peaks Expedition, a large expedition organizer in Nepal, which has climbed Everest eight times.