Nepal will waive climbing fees for 97 Himalayan peaks for the next two years to encourage tourism to remote and less prosperous areas of the country.
At the same time, the fee for a permit to climb Mount Everest (8,849 m), the world’s highest peak, will rise to $15,000 during the peak season from September — the first increase in almost 10 years.
The peaks that will be free to climb are located in the western Nepalese provinces of Karnali Pradesh and Sudurpaschim Pradesh. Their altitude ranges from 5,970 m to 7,132 m. Both these provinces are among the poorest and least developed regions of the country.
“Despite the breathtaking beauty of these mountains, the number of tourists and climbers here is very low due to the difficult access. We hope that the abolition of climbing fees will help change the situation in this region of the country,” said Himal Gautam, director of the Nepal Tourism Department.
However, it is not yet clear whether the authorities plan to improve infrastructure and transport links to these remote areas. It is also unclear how successfully local authorities will cope with the influx of climbers if the free ascent initiative is implemented.
Mountaineering and tourism are an important source of income for Nepal, which is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest mountains. However, climbers have traditionally shown little interest in these 97 hard-to-reach peaks – in the past two years, they have only visited 68 of them. By comparison, in 2024, Nepal issued 421 Everest climbing permits.
Everest has suffered from excessive climber interest and environmental concerns in recent years. In April 2024, Nepal’s Supreme Court ruled that the government should limit the number of permits for Everest and several other peaks, stating that “the carrying capacity of the mountains must be taken into account.”
In January of this year, authorities announced a 36% increase in permit fees. For those who try to conquer the summit outside the peak season from April to May, now the cost of climbing Everest from September to November will be $7,500, and from December to February — $3,750.
The Nepalese parliament is also discussing a new law that would require anyone wanting to climb Everest to first climb another Nepalese mountain higher than 7,000 m.
This initiative will make the peaks of Karnali Pradesh and Sudurpaschim Pradesh “ideal training grounds,” Kathmandu writes Post.
Material prepared by: alp.org.ua