Nepal issues record number of Everest climbing permits despite higher fees

Nepal has issued a record 492 permits to climb Mount Everest during this year’s spring expedition season, despite a sharp increase in climbing fees, officials said.

“Records are to be broken! Highest ever climber permits are issued for Sagarmatha (Mount Everest),” Himal Gautam, a spokesperson for Nepal’s Department of Tourism, said.

In an effort to reduce overcrowding on the world’s highest mountain, Nepal this year raised the climbing royalty for foreign climbers attempting Everest to $15,000 from $11,000.

The higher fee, however, has failed to deter climbers, with permit numbers surpassing previous records and raising concerns about expedition safety and environmental damage.

According to the Department of Tourism, Nepal issued permits to 290 climbers in 2018, 381 in 2019, 408 in 2021, 325 in 2022, 479 in 2023, 421 in 2024 and 456 in 2025. Everest expeditions were suspended in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The growing number of climbers has intensified concerns about waste management in the Everest region, where garbage continues to accumulate at higher camps despite repeated cleanup campaigns.

Officials and environmental groups have warned that the increasing use of high-tech tents, cooking gas and other equipment, along with overcommercialization, poses a serious threat to the fragile Himalayan environment.

Gopal Bhandari with the Department of Tourism said the number of climbers could still rise before the permit process closes.

“An expedition group consisting of 11 climbers is in process of obtaining climbing permits. Few more could be added into the list as the permit issue process hasn't yet come to an end,” he told Anadolu.

Nepal begins issuing climbing permits in early March, and applications continue through the end of May. Experienced climbers often arrive later in the season intending to summit without extended acclimatization.

Climbers have already started gathering at Everest Base Camp to acclimatize before moving to higher camps once ropes are fixed to the summit.

Traditionally, the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal is responsible for fixing ropes from Camp II to the summit, while the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee manages the route from base camp to Camp II.

“This year’s rope-fixing operations were delayed by two weeks after a massive serac -- a large unstable block of glacier ice -- collapsed on the route to Camp I.”

Sherpas responsible for fixing ropes had to wait for the ice formation to melt before installing ladders across crevasses leading to Camp I. Climbers heading to Everest and Lhotse, the world’s fourth-highest mountain, both use the same icefall route.

Base camp officials said ropes have now been fixed up to the South Col at 7,906 meters, while efforts to extend the route to the summit continue despite poor weather conditions.