A lawyer on Friday ordered the Nepalese government to limit the number of mountaineering permits issued by the Everest High Court for Everest and other mountains, AFP reported.
Eight of the ten highest mountains in the world are in the Himalayan region, which attracts hundreds of tourists every spring when the weather is pleasant and the winds are calm.
Although the summary was published this week, the decision was handed down at the end of April.
Deepak Bikram Mishra, a lawyer who called for the ban to be lifted, told AFP that the court had acted in response to concerns about Nepal’s environment and mountains.
The summary decision did not set a limit on the number of permits granted, and the full language of the decision has not been made public.
Today, Everest, the highest peak in the world at 8,849 meters (29,032 feet) above sea level, can be accessed by anyone who applies and is willing to spend $11,000 to get permission from Nepal.
Last year, the country issued 478 permits for Mount Everest.
In 2019, the team was forced to wait for several hours at the summit in the bitter cold due to overcrowding on Everest and low oxygen levels, which could lead to fatigue and illness.
It accounted for at least four of the 11 peak deaths that year.
‘Give it some respite’
“We put a lot of pressure on the sand and we had to give it some time,” Mishra said.
A court order restricts helicopters to anything but emergency rescues.
In recent years, climbing groups have been regularly flown to base camp and danger areas by helicopter.
According to Nima Nuru Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, such choices should be made with care and input from stakeholders.
“Instead, we should focus on how we can make the mountain safer.”
So far this year, Nepal has issued permits to 945 climbers, including 403 for Everest.
