Everest earns Nepal a record haul as the climbing fee jumps to $15,000
A record 494 permits and a higher royalty pushed Everest climbing revenue past NPR 1 billion this spring.
Everest did not just break the summit record this spring — it broke records at the treasury too. Nepal issued 494 Everest permits, a new high, and collected around NPR 1.08 billion (well over US$6 million) in royalty from climbing fees alone.
Part of the jump came from a fee increase: the standard spring Everest permit rose from US$11,000 to US$15,000 per climber. Even at the higher price, demand set a record.
What this means for trekkers
Climbing royalties help fund the rope-fixing, rescue and clean-up systems that keep the whole Khumbu running — which benefits everyone on the Everest Base Camp trail, not only summit climbers.
Short on time? An Everest Base Camp helicopter tour brings you into the amphitheatre of peaks in a single day.
Cover photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
Source: The Kathmandu Post
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