Everest fees cut for climbers
In a move that it is hoped will encourage smaller groups of people to climb Mount Everest, authorities in Nepal and China have cut the fees that climbers have to pay from £25,000 each to £11,000 each. In order to save money, groups of seven climbers used to be able to save thousands of pounds by purchasing a group permit for £70,000, meaning that large groups of climbers who didn’t know each other ended up on the mountain together. Tilakram Pandey, spokesperson for the Nepalese tourism authority, said: “The change in royalty rates will discourage artificially formed groups, where the leader does not even know some of the members in his own team. It will promote responsible and serious climbers.”
However, the move to drop the charges by so much has been viewed with scepticism by some who are already concerned about overcrowding on the mountain. The new rates are applicable during the peak season, and in order to encourage more climbers to attempt the summit in off-peak months, the fee for climbing Everest drops to $2,500.
With travel insurers around the world noting the increasing frequency and expense of evacuating insureds from Everest and its surrounding mountains, the move by local tourism authorities to drop the price, and thus make the adventure even more accessible to adrenaline-seeking tourists, will not be viewed with great pleasure by everybody.