Everest Day amid record climbs, pollution concerns

By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, May 29: As the country observes International Everest (Sagarmatha) Day on Friday, concerns have been rising over increasing pollution on Sagarmatha, with some activists calling for a temporary suspension of summit permits for some years.

This year, the country witnessed record mountaineering activity, with the government issuing 495 climbing permits for Sagarmatha and around 275 climbers reaching the summit in a single day, setting a historic record.

But the stakeholders have suggested leveraging some rest for the world’s tallest peak. 

The Day marks the first successful ascent of Sagarmatha by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary in 1953. Climbers who summited Sagarmatha this season are celebrating their success on the world’s highest peak and many of them already returned.

The Department of Tourism (DoT) issued climbing permits to 495 foreign climbers for Sagarmatha this season, but around 800 climbers (including domestic climbers) have reportedly summited the mountain so far, although the figure is yet to be officially verified.

However, Mingma Chhiri Sherpa, Chairperson of the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu, said Nepal should not adopt a complete closure or “rest” policy for Sagarmatha. Instead, he argued that the number of climbers should be properly managed through stricter criteria and standards for those attempting the peak.

He said the country should introduce legal provisions allowing only experienced climbers to scale Sagarmatha, such as requiring climbers to have previously summited a 7,000-metre mountain. 

He added that restricting climber numbers through qualification standards would also help promote country’s other mountains. “If climbers were required to first climb other high-altitude peaks, it would encourage mountaineering activities in different seasons and create more employment opportunities for climbers and mountain workers beyond the short spring climbing season,” he said. 

Speaking about waste and dead bodies on Sagarmatha, he said the government must invest a certain percentage of the royalties collected from Sagarmatha expeditions into mountain cleaning and waste management. 

He argued that the government earns millions in royalties from Sagarmatha but has not paid sufficient attention to maintaining cleanliness on the mountain.

He also stressed that climbers and expedition operators should be made responsible for the waste they generate. According to him, a stricter control mechanism and strong monitoring system are needed to ensure that climbers bring back the waste they produce from Base Camp to the summit and back.

Himal Gautam, Information Officer at the DoT said responding to concerns over pollution on Sagarmatha and the use of royalty funds, he acknowledged that the issue was valid. He said existing laws, including the Tourism Act 2035 and Tourism Regulation 2059, require climbers to deposit a refundable garbage management fee before expeditions and allow refunds after waste clearance certification.

According to him, this legal provision has created a “paradox”, as the government cannot permanently retain the deposit money even though complaints about increasing waste on Sagarmatha continue to rise.

To address the issue, he said the government has introduced a new tourism bill in Parliament following recommendations from the department and ministry. The bill, approved by the National Assembly, proposes replacing refundable garbage deposits with a non-refundable waste management fee that would be used for mountain clean-up activities and the welfare of Sherpas.

On revenue sharing, Gautam said the Constitution gives local governments responsibility for waste management, while royalties collected from mountaineering are treated as revenue generated from natural resources.

Under the existing revenue-sharing mechanism, the federal government receives 50 per cent of mountaineering royalties, while 25 per cent goes to the concerned provincial government and the remaining 25 per cent to local governments and affected local communities.

But there is no legal provision to allocate a fixed percentage of Sagarmatha royalties specifically for waste management. 

Likewise, Gautam said the court has instructed the government to assess the carrying capacity of Everest and other mountains and determine climber limits accordingly. According to him, the government is planning studies to assess how many climbers can safely be allowed on Everest each year, although the study has not yet been completed. A clean mountain action plan is also in the offing. 

Referring to the existing rule requiring climbers to bring down eight kg of waste, Sherpa said the provision was based on old estimates and lacks effective monitoring. He said authorities need to strictly monitor whether climbers are actually bringing waste down from higher camps, including above Camp II.

He said the responsibility for monitoring climbing activities lies with Nepal’s DoT, which should enforce regulations more strictly.

Speaking about the role of the local government, he said the rural municipality has been managing waste below Everest Base Camp and coordinating the management of garbage collected at Base Camp through the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), a local institution that has been working in the region for more than 30 years.

He said the local government is implementing mountain management guidelines for Everest and other peaks, including Ama Dablam. The guidelines address environmental issues, camping management and climate-related concerns in mountain areas.

He further said the rural municipality had made it mandatory for climbers to carry back their own human waste through the “poop bag” concept since 2024, adding that the government later expanded the practice to other mountains as well.