How much does it cost to climb Mount Everest and how to climb it?

As we all know, the cost of climbing Mount Everest is very high. How is this cost made up? Where will the cost be higher? The following small series will introduce you. If you really want to climb Mount Everest, you must prepare enough money.

How much does it cost to climb Mount Everest?

"How much does it cost to climb Mount Everest?" This is one of the most common problems. The simplest answer is that it costs at least $30,000 to buy a car, but many people will pay more. This is the most common problem and cost about climbing Mount Everest.

The price of climbing Mount Everest is not fixed. There is a price range, ranging from $30,000 to $85,000. Adventure companies in Nepal occupy the market at low prices, and traditional western organizers differentiate their products by adding more services. In other words, climbing Mount Everest has become a mature market, just like buying a car or flying.

How much it costs depends on your climbing form, logistical support and which side you climb from. Nowadays, due to environmental factors, the number of standard climbing places in Tibet (North Slope) is getting less and less. At present, the vast majority of Everest climbers in the world, including China climbers, often choose to reach the summit from the south side of Mount Everest in Nepal.

The average cost of climbing the summit on the south side is about $42,000, and that on the north slope is about $39,000. If a customer is equipped with one or more western guides to climb Mount Everest from the south slope, it will cost at least 60 thousand dollars. If you go to a low-cost Nepalese company, it will cost about $30,000.

There are three ways to climb Mount Everest: personal climbing, logistics outsourcing or joining a business team.

Nowadays, more and more Everest climbers come from India and China, and they have become a supplement to the traditional climbers in the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia. Most of them are local tour guides in Nepal, which can meet these needs. The increase in the number of climbers in China has greatly promoted domestic tourism and increased the congestion of Mount Everest.

At the same time, a large number of Nepalese mountaineering companies, in which China shares or leads, appear in the Nepalese market.

Where's my money?

Whether climbing Mount Everest from Nepal or Tibet, the expenses mainly consist of four parts: travel expenses, license/insurance expenses, equipment expenses and guide expenses. A person can climb independently without a team, but few people do this because it is too expensive.

The cost of traveling to Nepal is 500_7000 dollars.

The cost of travel depends entirely on the hotel you stay in and the way you travel. Prices range from a few hundred dollars to more than 7,000 dollars. Most foreign tourists use Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways. China tourists can easily take flights from China International Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Tibet Airlines and China Southern Airlines to Nepal.

After arriving in Kathmandu, continue to fly to Lukara. It takes about a week to walk from Lukara to the base camp. You and your support team have to eat and live all the way, and the total amount is between 400- 1000 dollars, which also depends on your travel mode and how much beer or whisky you drink every day.

However, you should not only go to the base camp by yourself, but also bring your own equipment: tents, food, oxygen and so on. Must be transported to the base camp. Backpacking trips and yaks cost at least $75 a day, so the total cost is usually thousands of dollars. Large expeditions will rent helicopters. You can save some money if you climb from Tibet. You can drive all the way to the base camp, which is included in your permit.

Personal travel expenses 2,425-6,325 USD.

The air ticket is between 1500 and 5000, depending on your cabin and the excess baggage fee.

A round-trip ticket from Kathmandu to Lukara is $325.

The cost of accommodation and meals in Kathmandu is 300-700 dollars, depending on your accommodation level.

Nepal 90-day visa fee 100 USD.

(China citizens are exempt from visa fees.

Vaccination costs 200 dollars.

To Everest base camp, 3990_4550 dollars.

Yaks spend $65,438+050 to and from the camp every day, carrying 65,438+020 pounds (about 55 kilograms (at least $2,400 for four yaks in four days).

It costs $75 a day to carry 60 pounds (about 27 kilograms) to and from the base camp (at least $65,438 +0.350 for three backpackers for six days)

During the walk to EBC, the accommodation and meals are 20- 100 USD/person/day (at least 140-700 USD for 7 days).

Equipment parking fee is $ 100/ group.

License and insurance fee is 7000_ 17500 USD.

The license fee for Everest summit in Nepal 1 1000 USD/person and Tibet $7,000 USD/person. In Nepal, the license only means that rock climbing is allowed, while in Aconcagua, Argentina or McKinley, Alaska, the license fee is $800 and $365, but it includes helicopter rescue, high-altitude camp maintenance, seasonal employee employment, mountaineering information and environmental protection expenses.

Nepal implemented a new regulation on 20 13, requiring every foreign climber coming to Nepal to hire a local Sherpa guide. These provisions should also apply to 2008. But it is not clear how to implement it, or whether the person in charge of each team needs to implement it, but it has increased at least $4,000 on the basis of the absolute lowest price. In 2006, a climber climbed the mountain without permission, and was finally repatriated by the Nepalese government, and was banned from mountaineering exploration in Nepal for the next five years.

If you want to take Nepali Sherpas to Tibet for mountaineering, the Tibet Mountaineering Association of China requires each Sherpa to pay a "work permit" fee of US$ 3,000.

Most tour guide companies in Nepal will require their teams to buy at least rescue insurance, and most of them will also require medical insurance. One of the best investments you can make is to include the cancellation of the adventure in the insurance clause. In 20 14 and 20 15, the Everest climbing season came to an abrupt end, and those who bought travel cancellation/interruption insurance received 100% compensation for travel expenses.

Travelex is a popular choice. In order to save money, you can join the American Mountain Club, and they will pay $7,500 for the rescue through GlobalRescue, but before you start to get the rescue, you must go to your own will or home. Most people will pay hundreds of dollars extra to upgrade the most basic service content.

You must strictly abide by all these agreements, otherwise you will not be able to get compensation. Yes, do it strictly, and a small mistake will make you get no compensation.

Mountaineering fee 16650_2 1650 USD.

Nepal Alpine Liaison Officer Fee $2500/group

Base medical support 100 USD/person

Nepal Everest Pass 1 1000 USD/person; Tibet Everest Pass ($7,000 per westerner and $3,000 per Sherpa in Nepal)

The deposit for garbage and human excrement is USD 4,000/group (refundable, but not necessarily refundable).

Glacier doctors spend $2,500 per group or $600 per person on road maintenance.

The road rope fixing fee above the Khumbu Glacier is 150 USD/person.

Weather forecast $0-$ 1000

Mulberry stew ceremony $300

The premium is $400 _ 2,500.

The rescue fee is 70 -400 dollars.

$500 in medical expenses

Cancel 100 USD

The cost of rescue on the south slope of Mount Everest is $5,000-$20,000 (depending on the starting and ending points).

The equipment cost is $ 12000.

You need to eat something and keep warm. About 97.3% of Everest climbers use oxygen. You can buy your own food and cook for yourself, but most people hire Nepalese chefs at the base camp, which costs about $5,000, and you have to have a budget of about $800 to buy food and fuel during the six-week climb of Mount Everest.

Use at least 5 bottles of oxygen, each bottle costs 550 dollars, about 2750 dollars. At the same time, an oxygen mask costs 450 dollars and an oxygen regulator costs 450 dollars. You can bring extra oxygen to the high camp, but most people need to hire Sherpas to carry oxygen. If you hire a private Sherpa, it will cost about $2,000 extra to upgrade his climbing oxygen when the traffic is usually low.

Finally, you need mountaineering equipment, including boots, one-piece down jackets, warm clothes, gloves, sleeping bags, backpacks, etc ... If you buy new ones, it will cost at least $7,000. The price of alpine boots such as LaSportiva or Xiaomi is about $65,438+0,000, the price of one-piece down jackets such as FeatheredFriends or MountainHardwear is over $65,438+0,000, and the price of down sleeping bags with a temperature of -30 degrees is at least $500.

Miscellaneous expenses11650 _16400 _ 36400 USD.

Medical first aid kit 1000 USD

Sherpas cooperate, and the chef's tip and bonus are $ 250-2000 (depending on performance or whether you reach the top).

Personal equipment (jumpsuit, hiking boots, sleeping bag, etc.). ): $7,000.

Satellite phone (personal use, depending on usage, 1000-3000 USD)

Sherpa equipment subsidy $2,000

The Everest Base Camp and High Camp cost $3,500-8,800.

The tent costs $3,000 (for three people to sleep, cook, go to the toilet and store things).

Chef costs $5,000 (chefs and assistants work for 6 weeks)

$800 for food and fuel (for 6 weeks)

Mountaineering support $ 3990_ 12430

Oxygen is 550 pounds/bottle (5 bottles total $2,750 (excluding transportation to high camp).

Oxygen masks are $450 each.

Oxygen regulator $450/piece

Sherpa cooperates for $5,000, and Sherpa oxygen for $2,000.

Logistics support (excluding the license of $20,000-$80,000)

For decades, western adventure companies such as AdventureConsultants, AlpineAscents(AAI), JaggedGlobe, HimalayanExperience(Himex), International Mountaineering Guide (IMG) and so on. Climbed Mount Everest at a price of 40,000 to 65,000 dollars.

But this situation is changing. 20 16 local exploration companies in Nepal are highly competitive. Many Sherpas who have climbed Mount Everest ten times or more are advertisements themselves, and they have saved as much as $65,438+$00,000-$25,000 in fees paid to western tour guides.

Coupled with the lower-than-normal salary sometimes paid to Sherpa collaboration, chefs and backpackers, the operating cost of Nepalese adventure companies is one-third of that of traditional western adventure companies.

According to the survey, in Nepal, the average price of climbing from the south slope with SherpaGuide is $42,000, and if equipped with climbing guides from the west, it is $62,000. Climbing from the north slope, equipped with Sherpa or Tibetan cooperation, the average price is $38,000.

If you want to join a low-cost Nepalese company, the price of climbing from the south slope or the north slope is about $30 thousand. If you hire a personal western guide or an international mountain guide, the price is $ 1 14000.

How to climb Mount Everest

Almost everyone in Nepal claims to be a mountaineering guide. You have three choices: Sherpa cooperation, Sherpa guide and western guide.

Sherpa cooperation

For $30,000, you can join a South Slope expedition supported by Sherpas. The exploration company is responsible for all the logistical preparations: food, public facilities, transportation and cooperation with Sherpas, but it does not provide traditional western guides, and may even have no Sherpas guides. Sherpas may or may not speak fluent English. He will take you to the top of the mountain and come back. It is very common that during the climbing process, you may be alone and your cooperation is nowhere to be found.

Sherpa guide (Sherpa guide

International Mountaineering Guide (IMG) refers to a mountaineering team led by an experienced Sherpa mountaineering guide. The market price of this climbing mode is $44,000. It is usually up to an experienced Sherpa leader to make important decisions, such as when to rush to the top and when to retreat. A variant of this model is to hire a private Sherpa mountaineering guide. These Sherpa guides have gained superior experience and skills in climbing with western customers 1: 1. Their English level is usually very good. You will never climb alone.

Maybe they won't help you carry your equipment, but whether you give up on the eve of or before the summit, they will always be with you. In addition to the reward of $5,000-7,000 for individual Sherpa guides, 5%-20% tips and bonuses are required.

Western guide (western guide

Thewesternguidedexpeditions is a kind of "full service", which is the best choice for climbers who are climbing Mount Everest for the first time or want more support.

Prices vary widely, ranging from $55,000 to $85,000. This includes all the services of a Sherpa guide plus one or more western guides. If you want to have your own private guide to the west, you must pay $654.38 million, plus tips and bonuses.

There is no language barrier in this way of climbing. Western tour guides will make decisions on all issues, such as return time, weather and handling emergencies.

These high-end adventures, your food is of high quality, and five-star chefs prepare exotic dishes for you. There are coffee machines, bars and so on.

The most expensive adventure companies always have some western guides, but now many mountaineers from China have taken their place to cope with the expanding China market.

Explore the following issues in depth

1, I have to climb along the traditional route?

No, as long as you can get a climbing permit, you can climb Mount Everest along any route. If you want to climb from Nepal to Tibet or other unconventional routes, you need permission from both countries. But years of experience show that it is almost impossible to apply for a similar license.

2. Can I climb Mount Everest alone?

Can't! In 20 13, Nepal's Ministry of Tourism issued a policy requiring every climber to hire a Sherpa guide. The Tibet Mountaineering Association of China has similar requirements. But there are exceptions, such as some peaks around Mount Everest.

How much does it cost to climb Mount Everest at least?

As mentioned earlier, it is almost impossible to climb Mount Everest completely independently along the traditional route. However, you can climb without oxygen, Sherpa cooperation and chefs, but use ladders and road ropes from Khumbu Glacier. For an individual, it needs at least $32,000. If you join a team of 7 people, including the above services, the average basic cost per person is 30 thousand dollars.

If oxygen is used, and there is logistics support in the base camp, plus a Sherpa cooperation, the cost is close to 45 thousand dollars. If you join a team of seven people, the average cost is only $39 thousand. If you climb from the northern slope of Tibet, the cost can be reduced by several thousand yuan.

4. What's the difference between $30,000 and $65,000 to climb Mount Everest?

The general rule is that the lower the price, the bigger the team. But in the high-end market, the difference is often the profit level and the number of western imports. There are also services tied to the price. Some adventure companies promote sales at low prices, and then provide customers with "options", such as how much oxygen, Sherpa cooperation, and even meals at the base camp. A British adventure company organizes low-cost rock climbing on the North Slope, but their quotation does not include oxygen, summit bonus and other services that almost all adventure companies include.

Another common practice is to pay employees a lower salary, and the best venture companies will pay their employees a proper salary.

Another example is the Sherpa bonus. The low price may not include the summit bonus, but the high price does. For example, a Nepalese company requires climbers to pay Sherpas a summit bonus of $65,438 +0.500 if they successfully reach the summit or South Australia, and $500 if they fail to reach the summit. This part of the cost is not included in the benchmark quotation.

However, some venture companies include these bonuses in their overall offer. Even in both cases, it is customary to give your Sherpa cooperation, western tour guides and extra tips.

Climbing Mount Everest is more and more like an aristocratic sport-the cost of training, preparation and climbing has been extremely high, and almost all climbers are funded or sponsored. After all, for most people in China, it is still impossible to spend a lifetime of savings to sprint to the top. It is not derogatory to say that this is a "small circle" movement.

This is why China entrepreneurs spent more than 3 million RMB per capita to climb Mount Everest (this price was ten years ago! Undoubtedly, with strong logistical support, their personal safety will hardly be threatened.

With the rapid growth of the number of climbers, the increasingly severe environmental pressure, and the increasing demand of Sherpa community, it is a high probability event that the cost of climbing the highest mountain in the world will increase greatly in the future.