It starts again, albeit with small, slow steps: Nepal reopens its gates to tourists.
Mount Everest is still closed to mountaineers due to Corona. However, that should change soon. For the autumn season, (hobby) adventurers can again apply for permits to climb the highest mountain on earth. To do this, however, they still have to dig deep into their pockets.
According to the US magazine "Forbes", international flights to Nepal will start again on August 17th. This was confirmed by the spokesman for the Nepalese tourism authority, Kamal Prasad Bhattarai. It is so far unclear whether arriving tourists have to go into quarantine for a certain period of time or have to show a negative corona test before they can go to the Himalayan mountains. The country between India and Tibet is one of the poorest nations in the world and economically highly dependent on mountain tourism.
Climbing Everest is an expensive adventure
The Ministry of Tourism announced at the end of July that climbing permits for Mount Everest and other mountains would be issued again in the fall. However, nothing has changed in terms of the hefty prices for such an adventure. According to "Bergsteiger" magazine, the fee for a permit to climb Mount Everest amounts to a whopping 11,000 US dollars in the spring season – the equivalent of around 9,400 euros. In the autumn season, which lasts from late September to early December, tourists get away a little cheaper with almost half of this sum.
However, the total cost of climbing Mount Everest is considerably higher. In addition to the fee for the permit, mountaineers have to spend a lot on their equipment including tents, food and oxygen bottles. Most adventurers – or those who would like to become one – also let local experienced guides take them to the summit of Everest. Most of them are members of the Sherpa people (German: roughly "Ostvolk"). For example, they carry luggage back and forth between camps, navigate and cook.
"The roof of the world" is still closed
At almost 8,848 meters, Mount Everest is the highest mountain on earth, which is why its summit is also called "the roof of the world". Today climbing Everest is on the "bucket list" of many people around the world – a list of things that they want to experience once in their life. However, the Himalaya Mountains have been closed since mid-March due to the corona pandemic.