Nepal to tighten rules; climbers need to summit 7,000-m peak before attempting Everest. All you need to know

In an effort to address the issue of overcrowding, enhance climber safety, and mitigate ecological imbalance on Mount Everest, the Nepal government has proposed a law to grant permits to climb the world’s highest mountain only to those who have previously scaled at least one 7,000-metre peak within the country.

Everest has faced mounting issues such as pollution and dangerous bottlenecks due to permitting too many climbers, including inexperienced ones, to try to scale the 8,849-metre (29,032 ft) peak.

On April 18, the Nepal government had proposed the Integrated Tourism Bill in the upper house of the Parliament, which aims to ensure that climbers have adequate high-altitude experience to handle the challenges during the Everest climbing.

According to the proposed law, climbers will have to submit a certificate of climbing at least one peak above 7,000m in Nepal before applying for an Everest permit.

It also says the head of local staff, called the sardar, and the mountain guide accompanying climbers must be Nepali citizens, medical check-ups of the climbers will be mandatory, climbers will be required to furnish a certificate from a government-approved medical institution, and climbers will not be allowed to transfer their permits to others if their expedition is halted due to unforeseen events such as natural disasters or war.

Over 400 climbers from 53 countries get nod to scale Mount Everest

Nepal's Department of Tourism said a total of 402 climbers from 53 countries, including 74 women, have been granted permission to scale Mount Everest this spring.

According to the department, permission has been issued to 41 expeditions so far.

In the same season last year, 414 climbers -- including 75 women nd 330 men -- from 41 expeditions had obtained permits to ascend the 8,848.86 metre peak.

The department has collected a total royalty of ₹684 million from permits issued for climbing various mountain peaks this year, among which ₹595.5 million was collected from Everest permits alone, senior official Liladhar Adhikari said, as per a PTI report.

He said that a total of 987 climbers from 105 teams have received permission to scale 26 different mountain peaks during the ongoing season.

So far, more than 8,000 Nepalese and foreign climbers have successfully summitted Mt Everest.