Nepal’s new regulation to end solo expeditions and hikes in the royalty of the 8000ers has formally come into effect from Monday.
In February, the Himalayan nation amended the mountaineering regulations by publishing them in the Nepal Gazette, the government’s official publication.
Nepal Bans Solo Climbs
The Sixth Amendment of the mountaineering regulation released on February 3 this year bars climbers from solo expeditions on all the 8000-metre peaks.
The amendment to Rule 6 of the previous regulation has been made to prohibit climbers from undertaking solo expeditions of the 8000ers. “When climbing a mountain peak with an altitude of more than eight thousand metres, every two members of the mountaineering team must be accompanied by at least one altitude worker or mountain guide, and when climbing other mountains, the mountaineering team must take at least one mountain guide with them,” the recently introduced provision states.
This new provision is now applicable to all mountains above 8,000 meters, including the highest peak, Mount Everest. With new regulations in effect, the era of solo climbing on the peaks has formally ended, as the government has determined that no one, regardless of their experience, should go solo to the mountain. This will now also apply to alpine-style or expedition-style climbers.
The recently adopted changes have also formally publicised the hike in royalty fee for the foreign climbers attempting to summit Mount Everest from the standard south route in spring to USD 15000 per person. The spring season expedition, which sees a high influx of climbers in the Himalayan Nation from March to May, used to be USD 11,000. The new regulation has also increased the climbing royalty for the autumn season, which runs from September to November, to USD 7,500 from the existing USD 5,500.
Similarly, the Winter expedition, which runs from December to February and the monsoon, which runs from June to August, have also been revised to USD 3,750 from USD 2,750. The updated provision has also incorporated the revised fees for the other 8000ers. The royalty of the spring expedition has increased nearly twofold from 1800 to 3000 USD.
The autumn fee now stands at USD 1,500, up from the existing USD 900, while the winter and monsoon expeditions have become more expensive, having been revised from USD 450 to USD 750. Regarding Nepali climbers, the royalty for the usual route in the spring season has doubled from NRS 75,000 to NRS 150,000. (ANI)
