The Everest Dream Gets Costlier As Nepal Hikes Permit Fee For Climbers

The already costly dream of conquering Mount Everest is going to get more expensive for mountaineers, as Nepal is planning to hike the permit fees for climbing the world's tallest peak by more than 35 per cent. Soon, the permit needed to climb the 8,849 metres (29,032 feet) peak will cost $15,000 -- a 36 per cent rise from the $11,000 fee that has been in place for nearly a decade, according to Nepal's Department of Tourism.

The new rate will come into effect from September and apply to the popular April-May climbing season along the popular South East Ridge (also called the South Col route), which was pioneered by New Zealand's Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953, Narayan Prasad Regmi, director general of Tourism Department told news agency Reuters.

The royalty taken during the less popular September-November season and the rarely climbed December-February season will also increase by 36 per cent, to $7,500 and $3,750 respectively.

"The royalty (permit fees) had not been reviewed for a long time. We have updated them now," Regmi said.

Nepal is home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest. Hundreds of climbers visit the country every year to try and scale several other Himalayan peaks there. Income from permit fees and other spending by foreign climbers is a key source of revenue and employment for the cash-strapped Asian nation.

Regmi did not say how Nepal is planning to use the extra revenue that would be collected after the fee hike. Nepal issues around 300 permits each year for Everest expeditions.

Mount Everest-- A Costly Feat

Climbing Mount Everest is the dream of most mountaineers, but not everyone can pay the price attached to it - be it monetarily, physically or mentally. However, expedition organisers believe the money hike, which has been under discussion since last year, was unlikely to discourage climbers.

"We expected this hike in permit fees," Lukas Furtenbach of Austria-based expedition organiser, Furtenbach Adventures, told Reuters.

He said it was an "understandable step" from the government of Nepal. "I am sure the additional funds will be somehow used to protect the environment and improve safety on Everest," Furtenbach said.

Nepal is often criticised by mountaineering experts for allowing too many climbers on Everest and doing little to keep it clean or to ensure climbers' safety. Climbers returning from Everest complain the mountain is becoming increasingly dry and rocky with less snow or other precipitation, which experts say could be due to global warming or other environmental changes.

Regmi said cleaning campaigns were organised to collect garbage and rope fixing as well as other safety measures were undertaken regularly.