Nepal hikes up Everest climbing fees

According to the Nepal Department of Tourism, Mount Everest permit fees have been increased for the first time in nearly a decade. Permit fees from September will now cost $15,000, a 36% hike on the existing $11,000 price, officials in Nepal have announced.

For those wanting to climb outside the peak April to May period, the price will increase by the same percentage. Between September and November, it will cost $7,500 and from December to February the price will now be $3,750.

Income generated by permit fees is a crucial source of revenue for Nepal Mountain climbing and trekking is responsible for over 4% of its economy. But mountaineering experts have long criticised the government of Nepal for allowing far too many to climb the mountain. Around 300 permits are issued every year. It is not yet known if the price hike 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 say how the additional revenue would be spent.

In April 2024, the country’s supreme court ordered the government to place a cap on the number of permits issued for Mount Everest and other mountains, saying that the capacity of mountains “must be respected.” A maximum has not been set by this order.

In 2019, the army began its annual clean-up amidst growing concerns about overcrowding and climbers queueing in dangerous conditions to reach the summit. Everest has been labelled the planet’s highest garbage dump.

Five clean-us collected 119 tonnes of rubbish and 14 human corpses and skeletons, the army said. It is estimated that an additional 200 bodies are still left on the mountain.

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