The price to climb Mount Everest will soon increase for the first time in nearly a decade, as Nepal announces a sharp mark-up in permit fees.
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 on 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 permit fees is a key source of revenue for Nepal, with mountain climbing and trekking contributing more than 4% to the country’s economy.
Mountaineering experts often criticise Nepal’s government for allowing too many climbers on Everest, however, with about 300 permits to the mountain issued per year.
It is unclear if the price increase, which was under discussion since last year, will 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 now.”
Regmi did not specify how the extra revenue would be used.
The rise in permit fees came as “no surprise”, said British mountaineer Kenton Cool, who has reached the summit of Everest 18 times.
“In the grand scheme of the cost to climb Everest it won’t impact most foreign climbers,” he told the BBC.
“Hopefully, the extra revenue will be put to good use.”
In April 2024, Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered the government to limit the number of mountaineering permits issued for Everest and other peaks, saying that the mountains’ capacity “must be respected”.
The preliminary order did not set a maximum number, though.
Amid concerns about overcrowding on Everest and climbers queuing in dangerous conditions to reach the summit, the Nepalese army in 2019 began conducting an annual clean-up of the mountain, which is often described as the world’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.
Additional reporting by Anbarasan Ethirajan
