Concerns raised as Nepal begins to feel impact of overtourism on Mount Everest

While Mount Everest continues to fascinate travellers throughout the globe, overtourism and the adverse effects of climate change are raising concerns among authorities in Nepal.

It has been a sobering fact that Mount Everest’s continued popularity on and offline still draws in foolhardy travellers who spend their money to take on the world’s highest peak as a bucket list challenge. 

It may be recalled that, during the 2023 climbing season, 18 people lost their lives on Everest due to sickness, exhaustion, and accidents; this was the highest-ever annual toll recorded at the mountain destination.

Though many of the casualties were foreign tourists, Nepalese officials are alarmed that the majority of those who lost their lives were locals acting as guides or performing support roles for Everest expeditions.

Everest in the numbers…and what the authorities are doing about it

According to experts at Climbing Kilimanjaro, Mount Everest used to see a maximum of 800 climbers a year prior to 2019.

However, since revenge travel became a thing following the pandemic, the maximum number has risen to 1,000 per annum, a development that continues to have adverse repercussions on both the local environment and the Nepalese economy.

Environmentalists have also raised the alarm regarding massive amounts of garbage left behind by both climbers and campers alike.

Recent reports show that there are three key concerns affecting Mount Everest and related climbing experiences:

• Overcrowding has been a major issue, especially as increasingly long queues in the death zone exacerbate risks;
• Increased traffic to the area generates too much waste, leading to the deterioration of local ecosystems; and
• Compromised safety measures on the part of budget tour operators has led to an alarming increase in the number of fatalities per annum.

In April of last year, the Nepalese Supreme Court issued an order calling upon the government to more closely regulate climbing expeditions and sanitation on the mountain.

The order declared: “Allowing the mountain to remain littered and permitting unlimited numbers of climbers at any time, even in the name of collecting royalties, is both harmful and disrespectful to the mountain.

Meanwhile, relevant authorities and their counterparts on the Tibetan side of Everest unveiled new rules governing climbing routes in January of this year.

Taking effect in September 2025 at the end of the main climbing season, these rules are as follows:

• Above the 8,000m mark, one guide is mandated for every two climbers and unguided climbs are prohibited;
• Climbing permits for foreigners is now set at US$15,000, 36 percent higher than before;
• Expedition companies need to provide life insurance for guides amounting to no less than 1.5 million rupees;
• The daily minimum wage per high-altitude guides is now set at 1,200 rupees;
• Climb organisers are now required to submit a photo of each climber’s face, plus mountain range; and 
• Climbers must bring all their garbage back to base camp for disposal.