The Price to Climb Mount Everest Will Rise to $15,000 This YearForeign climbers who want to try reaching the top of the 29,032-foot-tall peak will face higher permit fees in Nepal starting in September Nepal is raising the fee for the first time in about a decade. Wang Lama Humla via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0Every year, hundreds of mountaineers try to reach the top of Mount Everest, the 29,032-foot-tall peak on the border of Nepal and Tibet. But before embarking on the challenging trek in Nepal, climbers must receive a permit from the government and pay a fee.Now, for the first time in nearly a decade, Nepal is raising its Mount Everest permit fees for foreign climbers, reports Reuters Gopal Sharma. The new rates will take effect starting in September.Permit fees vary depending on the season, and Nepal is increasing them by 36 percent across the board. The fee for April and Maythe most popular months to try making the trekwill jump from $11,000 to $15,000. For September through November, the rate will increase to $7,500. For December through February, it will go up to $3,750.The [permit fees] had not been reviewed for a long time. We have updated them now, Narayan Prasad Regmi, director general of Nepals tourism department, tells Reuters.The more expensive permit fees did not come as a surprise. In 2023, government officials in Nepal announced their intention to raise rates starting in 2025, per theKathmandu Posts Sangam Prasain. At the time, authorities said the price increase would help them update Everest facilities and boost the salaries of porters, workers and guides.Each year, Nepali troops also undertake a massive cleanup effort on Everest and nearby mountains. Last year, they removed an estimatedten metric tons of garbage from Mount Everest, Mount Lhotse and Mount Nuptse; they also recovered five dead bodies.Permit fees, along with other spending by international mountaineers, are important contributors to Nepals economy, according to Reuters.The fee hikes likely wont deter many foreign climbers, who already spend tens of thousands of dollars to attempt the bucket-list summit, as Alan Arnette, a mountaineer and climbing coach who runs ablog about Everest, reported forClimbing magazine in 2022. In addition to the permit fees, climbers must also pay for travel expenses, insurance, gear, supplies and professional guides, known as sherpas. The guide service alone can cost more than $40,000, according to Arnette.In the grand scheme of the cost to climb Everest, it wont impact most foreign climbers, Kenton Cool, a British mountaineer who has summited Everest 18 times, tellsBBC News Gavin Butler. Hopefully, the extra revenue will be put to good use.Recently, authorities in Nepal have enacted several new rules to help cut down on overcrowding and pollution on Everest. Climbers must nowremove their own human waste from the slopes in special bags and carry them down to Everest Base Camp for disposal. They must also weartracking chips, which are intended to make it easier for search and rescue teams to find them in the event of an emergency.During the busy spring climbing season last year, nine climbers died or went missing on Everest, according toOutside magazines Ben Ayers. For context, Nepal issued 421 permits to foreign mountaineers during the spring 2024 season, and roughly 600 peopleincluding climbers, guides and workersreached the summit.Thefirst recorded summit of Mount Everest occurred in May 1953, when New Zealand climber Edmund Hillary and Nepali-Indian mountaineer Tenzing Norgay successfullyclimbed the peak together. Since then, more than 7,200 individuals have made it to the top of Everestincluding more than 1,600 climbers who have completed multiple summits, according tostatistics compiled by Arnette.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: History, Mountains, Outdoor Travel, Pollution, Tourism, Travel