Mount Everest’s highest camp is littered with tons of garbage. Cleanup will likely take years
PBS NewsHourJUN 2024
Nepal Hikes Fee for Everest Climbers
Above: Mountaineers descending from the summit of Mount Everest, Nepal, June 2021. Image copyright: Lakpa Sherpa/AFP/Contributor via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
While this is a steep hike in prices, the move has been anticipated since last year and will likely do little to dissuade those wanting to climb the world's highest peak, which was already a prohibitively expensive endeavor before this development.
Narrative B
Amid reports that climbing Mount Everest is becoming too congested, and with litter becoming an increasing issue on the mountain, this move by the Nepalese government is a pragmatic way of both enriching the nation (which has long catered to Western tourism), and making the issues associated with popular hiking regions more manageable.