Hundreds Climb Everest Amid Overcrowding, Safety Concerns

The recent Everest climbing season has been marked by significant overcrowding, with hundreds of climbers, including many inexperienced ones, facing dangerous congestion near the summit due to limited weather windows and a single safety rope. This overcrowding, combined with harsh weather and sudden illnesses, has raised safety concerns among climbers and mountaineering veterans, who emphasize the need for stricter qualifications for climbers to ensure safer ascents. Nepal issued over 468 climbing permits to foreign climbers in addition to a similar number of Nepali guides, with no restrictions on acclimatization days and permit validity lasting 90 days. In response to these challenges, the Nepal government, at a gathering of over 100 Everest summiteers, pledged to improve safety conditions and environmental protections, underscored by last year’s effort to remove 11 tonnes of rubbish and several bodies from the mountain. The combined factors of climate change, overcrowding, and environmental degradation continue to pressure the world's highest peak, demanding urgent attention to safeguard both climbers and the mountain environment.