The roof of the world is also confronted with a form of overcrowding.
Nepal has issued a record 454 permits to climb Everest this spring, authorities said on Monday, four years after at least four deaths were attributed to overcrowding on the mountain.
"This is the highest number of permits issued by the department for climbing Mount Everest
," Bigyan Koirala of the tourism department said, adding the numbers could rise further.
Most of the candidates for the feat will be accompanied by guides, which means that more than 900 climbers in total will attempt to reach the roof of the world in the coming weeks.
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A crowd that could lead to heavy traffic, or even congestion, on the course if the weather window was reduced by bad weather.
The highest number of permits this year was awarded to Chinese climbers (96 permits), the latter being followed by Americans (87).
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How much does a climbing permit cost?
Permits to climb Everest brought in 4.86 million dollars (4.4 million euros) to the Nepalese government, at the rate of 11,000 dollars (nearly 10,000 euros) per foreign mountaineer.
Queue
In 2019, a large queue had teams waiting for hours in freezing temperatures.
At least four of the eleven deaths that year had been attributed to overcrowding.
For Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, the high number of climbers this season is due to the fact that many of them have not been able to travel to Nepal in recent years due to the pandemic, he explained.
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In addition, new regulations concerning the Chinese side of Everest - it is now required to have climbed at least one summit at 8,000 meters beforehand - is pushing more Chinese on the Nepalese side.
Currently, a team of professional mountaineers is preparing the ascent and has already set up camp IV, located at 7,924 meters above sea level.
According to a guide, recent snowfall has increased the risk of avalanches on the peaks.
“Normally, it is during the winter that the snowfall should occur. But there have been some recently in the spring. The fresh snow remains soft, which increases the risk of avalanche
,” said the guide.
Three Nepalese climbers went missing on Everest while traversing the dangerous Khumbu Icefall on April 12.
Authorities halted rescue operations after concluding that it was not possible to recover their bodies from a deep crevasse.
Nepal has eight of the ten highest peaks in the world and the mountaineers who flock from all over the world are a major source of income for the country.
See also -
Rare and spectacular images of Everest
