Thrill seekers could be stopped from visiting major adventure tourist attraction

Adrenaline junkies planning a visit to a major adventure tourist attraction may have to think again.

Nepal is planning to restrict access to Mount Everest by only issuing climbing permits to experienced mountaineers, and not just any mountain will do.

Under the proposed legislation, you’ll need to have previously scaled at least one 7,000 meter (22,965 ft) peak in Nepal. The draft law aims to improve safety and reduce congestion on the world’s highest mountain. 

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It comes as the country faces criticism that too many climbers lacking appropriate experienced have been allowed onto the 8,849-meter (29,032 ft) peak, contributing to dangerous bottlenecks in the so-called “death zone,” where oxygen levels are too low to sustain life for long.

Nepal, which is heavily reliant on the tourism and trekking industries, issued a record 478 Everest permits in 2023. During that season, at least 12 climbers died and five went missing. Last year, eight climbers died.

Overcrowding has been cited as the cause behind many of these deaths. 

The new rules would also require that the expedition’s sardar (head of local staff) and accompanying mountain guides be Nepali citizens, a move aimed at boosting local employment and accountability.

It has been submitted to Nepal’s upper house of parliament, where it is expected to pass, but international expedition leaders disagree with some of its strict rules.

Some mountain guides have argued that the experience required should extend to peaks outside of Nepal. 

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“It’s too difficult to find a reasonable 7,000-meter-plus peak in Nepal,” Garrett Madison, founder of US-based Madison Mountaineering told Reuters, suggesting that a 6,500-meter climb anywhere in the world would be a more practical benchmark.

Nepal has more than 400 peaks open for climbing, of which 74 would meet the height requirement. However, officials say only a few of these higher-altitude mountains are suitable for training.

Others raised concerns about limiting the role of mountain guides to Nepali citizens, arguing that what matters most is formal certification. 

“It is important that mountain guides have a qualification like IFMGA [International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations], no matter what nationality they are,” Austrian expedition organizer Lukas Furtenbach told the news agency.