Record number of deaths on Everest as Nepal increases permits

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The newest climbing season on Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, is shaping up to be one of the deadliest in history, sparking concerns that Nepal is giving too many permits in order to maximize tourist profits.

Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada, the head of Nepal's tourist department, told Bloomberg News that the death toll is now at eight, with five more persons missing.

The number of fatalities is certain to exceed the 11 recorded in 2019, when photographs of enormous traffic congestion at the summit went viral across the world.

The deaths come after the Nepali government issued a record 478 permits in 2023.

Read more: Nepali mountaineer becomes first to climb world's 8,000m peaks twice

According to statistics kept by the US-based non-profit organization The Himalayan Database, the worst year in Everest climbing history was 2014, when at least 17 local personnel were killed, the most from a massive avalanche.

Permits for foreigners to climb Everest cost $11,000 (S$15,000) and had already earned Nepal's economy more than $5 million in 2023. The administration has avoided making substantial reforms to limit the number of licenses issued.

According to Alan Arnette, a blogger who climbed Everest in 2011, people are "seduced and enamoured" by climbing the peak, and "there’s nobody there that will tell them ‘no’ because they’ve paid the money." Arnette believes operators and authorities do not want the profits to dip, and therefore have not taken proper safety measures.

“It’s a pure and simple business decision," he said.

Nepal, one of Asia's poorest regions, has benefited from a surge in climbing tourism, fueled in part by the expanding riches of India and China.

While the world's tallest mountain, which rises at around 8,849m, is also accessible through China, climbers there are needed to have previously scaled an 8,000m peak, prompting many to go to Nepal, where such limitations do not exist.

In 2023, 97 Chinese climbers tried to summit Everest, making them the largest national group, followed by the United States and India.

Read next: UK climber breaks record for most times Everest climbed by non-sherpa

“You’re going to have some people that are climbing that are inexperienced with unqualified guides,” Khatiwada stated.

“Being at that altitude and under that physicality, the demands are just unpredictable. And as a result, you don’t know what you don’t know.”

Climbers on Everest are also becoming older, raising the stakes. The average age of climbers climbing Everest is currently 42, up from 34 in 1982.