Tourism Minister Kripasur Sherpa

The Nepalese government apparently wants to make sure that Mount Everest is taken seriously again. Speaking at an event in Kathmandu on the occasion of the World Tourism Day on Sunday, Tourism Minister Kripasur Sherpa said that new age limits and other more stringent conditions on granting permits for Everest expeditions were in preparation. It is considered to allow only climbers aged between 18 and 75 to climb the highest mountain on earth.

Summiters between 13 and 80

The current regulation is “that the permit shall not be provided to that person who is under the age of 16”. And there is no limit yet for old climbers. The youngest climber ever who scaled Everest was the American Jordan Romero aged 13 years and ten months in 2010, the oldest the Japanese Yuichiro Miura aged 80 years and seven months in 2013. Recently, the family of the now eleven-year-old American Tyler Armstrong had announced that he would try to climb Everest next spring.

“Climbing Everest is not a joke”

South side of Mount Everest

On Sunday, Kripasur Sherpa referred to potential restrictions for disabled climbers too. “We won’t issue permits to individuals with serious disabilities who cannot go to Everest on their own”, said the Minister. Tourism Department chief Govinda Karki spoke it out even more clearly. “We don’t think we should issue permits to people who cannot see or walk or who don’t have arms”, Karki told the news agency AFP. “Climbing Everest is not a joke. It is not a matter of discrimination. How can you climb without legs? Someone will have to carry you up.” Disabled climbers may not like these words. There have been several mountaineers who have already scaled Everest despite blindness or with arm or leg prostheses.

At least once on 6,500 meters

The government is also determined to ban very inexperienced climbers from Everest. Anyone should have reached an altitude of at least 6,500 meters before trying to climb Everest, Karki said.
There have already been announcements of stricter rules for permits in recent years, but in the end nothing happened. So, let’s wait and see.