Everest rules

A new bill proposes much-needed reforms of rules governing climbing and cleaning up the mountain.

The 8,848.86 metre Mt. Everest tempts many ardent climbers. As of now, nearly 9,000 mountaineers have made it to the summit from the Nepal side since Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary first summited Everest in 1953. This spring alone, over 400 enthusiasts have taken permission for the Everest climbing adventure, and the number will likely increase to at least 500. Add guides, and the total number could surpass 1,000. Such high numbers, no matter how beneficial for Nepal’s economy, have a darker side: unusual traffic jams, an increase in the deaths of climbers (for instance, 17 deaths in 2023 and eight in 2024), rapid glacier melt and the spreading image of Everest as the “world’s highest garbage dump”.