Nepal | Gov’t pledges to improve climbing conditions on Everest

In this Oct. 27, 2011 file photo, the last light of the day sets on Mount Everest as it rises behind Mount Nuptse as seen from Tengboche, in the Himalaya’s Khumbu region

Nepal is improving weather forecasting systems, stepping up security and promises swift rescues if needed during the upcoming climbing season on Everest in attempt to recover from the worst mountaineering disaster on the world’s highest peak last year.
Fees for individual climbers will also be cut to attract climbers back.
The chief of Nepal’s Mountaineering Department Puspa Raj Katuwal said yesterday that the government will ensure that conditions will be safer for both international climbers and Nepalese guides, and that a camp with officials will be deployed at the base camp for the three-month climbing that begins in March.
An avalanche near the base camp last April killed 16 local guides and prompted climbers to abandon the 2014 climbing season.
“We are working on plans to improve the conditions on the mountain this year. We are setting up a full-time office tent at the base camp which will have our officials throughout the climbing season,” Katuwal said.
That would allow the officials to quickly respond to any problem on the 8,850-meter mountain. They would also provide security, settle disputes among climbers and monitor the activities of the hundreds of climbers and guides at the base camp.
The Nepalese government has been repeatedly criticized for not having a presence at the base camp and doing too little despite earning millions in permit fees.
The country’s national weather service will provide forecasts for Everest for the officials to release at the base camp. The officials will also monitor the amount of garbage taken by climbers down the mountain. Left-behind garbage has become a problem in recent years.
Katuwal said he was confident that climbers would return to Everest, especially because of the slashed permit fees, which will cost USD11,000 per climber this year for permission to climb Everest, down from $25,000. Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu AP