How much does it cost to climb Mount Everest?

Mount Everest is the highest natural mountain on earth. It is located at the junction of my country's Tibet and the Indian subcontinent. Every year, a large number of friends from all over the world challenge to climb Mount Everest. So how much does it cost to climb Mount Everest? What?

"How much does it cost to climb Mount Everest?" The short answer is, a car, or at least $30,000, but most people pay about $45,000, and prices are still rising.

Here are a lot of details and explanations:

The headlines about climbing Everest in 2018 were that the prices of both low-end expeditions and extremely high-end services were rising, and this year, China One side again saw the largest increase in mountaineering expeditions.

In 2018, the price of climbing from the Tibet Autonomous Region side of China is still slightly lower in comparison, regardless of whether a guide is hired, unless it is an extremely high-end Western adventure company. The average cost is US$41,500 on the Nepalese side and US$38,500 on the Chinese side.

The price range for standard mountaineering adventure activities is US$28,000 to US$85,000. Full-service climbs will cost more than $115,000, and extreme adventurers can keep the cost under $20,000.

In the past five years, prices of companies on the Nepalese side have increased by 6%, while on the Chinese side, the rate has been 12%.

Over the years, cheap Nepali companies have established themselves in the market with price advantages, but now they realize that their profits are starting to decline and they are starting to increase their prices.

Like all other business activities, climbers and the guides they provide are also a business relationship of supply and demand, and this demand is quite huge! Over the past few years, I have noticed more and more Everest climbers come from India and China, and they complement traditional climbers in places like the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Most of the people who can meet these needs are local guides from Nepal. The increase in demand from Chinese climbers has greatly promoted domestic tourism and also increased congestion on Mount Everest.

Review of the 2017 Everest Expedition

Unpredictable weather conditions continued to be a feature of 2017 - on both sides of the mountain_ however, this was particularly evident on the southern end of the mountain . Forecasters working very hard to make accurate forecasts were discouraged by the strong winds that regularly hit the Nepal end.

In any case, it was almost a record year, with 648 people climbing Mount Everest, 237 on the Chinese side of the Tibet Autonomous Region and 411 on the Nepalese side. Six people died; three of them did not use supplemental oxygen.

What is a little unusual is that there are 19 people trying without supplemental oxygen, and 11 of them succeeded. The year with the most people climbing Mount Everest was 2013. 665 people reached the top of the mountain, 541 of whom succeeded along the south slope of the mountain, while 124 people stood on the top of the mountain from the north slope, and eight people died that year.

Prospects for Everest Expeditions in 2018

After the disastrous 2014 and 2015 climbing seasons, Everest returned to "normal" in 2016 and 2017,

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In any case, I am looking forward to an active climbing season on both sides of the mountain and another year of good crowds on the Tibet side of the mountain. The past two years have seen the highest number of visitors since 2006 and 2007.

In 2008, China stopped climbing Mount Everest because of the Olympic Games, interrupting the gradual establishment of commercial mountaineering. But that has passed. Now, climbers gather again on the north slope of Mount Everest every year.

There are rumors that starting in 2019, the Nepali government will increase the mountaineering permit fee from US$11,000 to US$15,000, so some people are looking for opportunities to come here in 2018.

However, this rumor seems quite suspicious. It may have leaked from the leader of the expedition team in order to stimulate business this year!

This year, the Nepal Tourism Bureau stated in their press conference They said they would work hard to make Mount Everest safer. In 2017, the Nepal Tourism Authority banned disabled climbers from trying to reach the summit. However, in the past five years, some of Nepal's "new rules" have never been implemented.

How is the money I pay allocated?

Travel expenses: $500-$10,125

The cost of travel depends entirely on where you live and what you prefer to do One way to travel, flying to Nepal can cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Most people choose Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, or China Eastern Airlines to go to Nepal.

Once you arrive in Kathmandu, you need to take a flight to Lukla area or Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, and then start traveling to the base camp, so in addition to air tickets, you will need to add hundreds of dollars in additional expenses.

Of course, you can take a bus to Gyirong (Editor's Note_The port between China's Tibet Autonomous Region and Nepal), or you can hike to the Lukla area for five days, and then go to the Everest South Slope Base Camp to save a little money.

It takes more than a week to hike to the base camp from the Lukla region of Nepal, so you need to buy food and accommodation along the way, which will cost between US$400 and US$1,000 per person. In recent years, the cost of teahouses in Khumbu area has increased rapidly. The hotels where you could stay for $5 a night have long since disappeared. Of course, to save money, climbers can also camp in their own tents.

However, in addition to yourself, you also need to bring all your equipment: tent, food, auxiliary oxygen, etc. to the base camp. Many people will hire porters and yaks, and this expense is at least US$20 per item per day, so generally speaking, the total cost can be as high as a thousand US dollars. Larger expeditions will rent helicopters and the cost will be factored into the total quote.

On the Tibet Autonomous Region side of China, all transportation costs are included in your mountaineering permit fee, and you also need to accept government supervision. Officials from the China Tibet Autonomous Region Mountaineering Association (CTMA) will meet you when you arrive in China and remain with you throughout the entire expedition.

Individual travel costs: US$2,425-US$8,350

Air ticket prices range from US$1,500 to US$7,000, depending on aircraft class, route and excess baggage conditions

Single round trip transportation from Kathmandu to Lukla area costs USD 350

Hotel and food in Kathmandu will cost USD 300 to USD 700, depending on delays

Nepal visa fee USD 100< /p>

Vaccination costs US$200

Cost to reach Everest Base Camp: US$1,240 to US$1,800

The cost of yak to and from base camp is US$40 per day per yak , capable of carrying 120 pounds of items (minimum hire of four yaks, US$640 for four days)

On the Chinese side, hire of additional yaks, US$300 per animal

The cost for a porter to go to and from the base camp is US$20 per person per day, and he can carry 60 pounds of items (at least three porters are hired for six days of transportation, and a fee of US$360 is required)

While hiking to Zhuhai On the way to the peak base camp, the cost of accommodation and food is US$20 to US$100/person/day - US$140 to US$700 for 7 days

The cost of entering the park is US$100/team

Mounting permit and insurance cost: US$9,950-$29,500

The price of a mountaineering permit on the Nepalese side is US$11,000 per person. In Nepal, the cost of the permit is only to allow people to climb the mountain, while Akon in Argentina Permit fees for Mount Gagua or Mount Denali in Alaska range from $800 to $365, respectively, and include helicopter rescue, high-altitude ranger camp maintenance, hiring seasonal staff, providing climbing information and maintaining the mountain. Environmental cleaning costs.

Nepal requires the use of a local company to organize the permit application process, which costs US$2,500 per team. At the same time, teams need to pay a refundable trash deposit of US$4,000, in addition to paying a liaison officer. The cost is US$3,000/team.

That’s $9,500, and that’s before applying for the $11,000 climbing permit. So even before you hire a guide and use yaks to transport food or equipment, the cost you have to pay in Nepal has reached about $20,000.

Nepal implemented a new regulation in 2013, requiring every foreign climber who comes to Nepal to hire a local Sherpa guide. These regulations should also apply in 2018.

But it’s not clear how, or whether the person in charge of each team needs to enforce it, but it adds at least $4,000 to the absolute lowest price.

In 2017, a climber climbed without a permit and was eventually deported by the Nepali government and banned from mountaineering expeditions in Nepal for the next five years.

The vast majority of guide companies on the Nepal side will require teams to purchase at least rescue insurance, and most of them will also require medical insurance. One of the best investments you can make is to include a cancellation clause in your insurance policy.

In 2014 and 2015, when the Everest climbing season came to an abrupt end, those who purchased trip cancellation/interruption insurance received 100% of their trip costs.

Travelex is a popular choice. To save money, join the American Alpine Club, which will cover $7,500 in rescue costs through GlobalRescue, but you must go to your home or home on your own before you can get rescued. Most people will pay an extra few hundred dollars to upgrade to the most basic service.

With all these agreements, you have to follow them to the letter or you won't get paid - and I mean, follow them to the letter, one mistake and you won't get paid.

China’s Tibet Autonomous Region side

Recently, China’s side has been blamed for increasing Mount Everest’s climbing permit fees, effectively limiting cheap expeditions. Climbing for less than $20,000 would necessitate forming a team with at least three other climbers.

For solo climbers this doesn't matter as many guides will be more than happy to put your name on their climbing permit for a small fee without being able to provide any actual assistance. .

The Chinese end (northern slope) requires teams of four or more to pay a climbing permit fee of US$9,950 per person; if the team is three or less, the price jumps to USD 19,500/person.

Expenses include transportation expenses from the point of entry into China to the peak base camp (usually Lhasa or Zhangmu) to the peak base camp, hotel, liaison officer, garbage removal fees, five yaks per person and upwards The cost of four yaks transporting supplies downwards. There is an additional fee of USD 200 per person per day for stay in Lhasa.

If you want to bring a Nepali Sherpa to climb in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, then the budget also requires a "work permit" of US$3,300 per Sherpa, and the CTMA also requires that they be paid US$5,000. salary.

Rescue insurance regulations in China's Tibet Autonomous Region are more complicated, as there are some rescues available for rope fixers, but basically climbers assist other climbers.

Helicopter search and rescue is not allowed, and rumors suggest it will be unlikely in the next few years. It would be wise to double-check your insurance company's full policy for details when climbing on the Chinese side.

Mounting fee: US$20,600 to US$25,650 (Nepal side)

Nepal agency fee is US$2,500/team (usually including the entire cost of a guide)

Nepal liaison officer fee is US$3,000/team (usually includes all expenses of a guide)

Medical support at base camp on the south slope of the mountain, Everest emergency room, cost US$100/person

On the south side of the mountain, the climbing permit fee for each climber is US$11,000 regardless of the size of the team.

On the Chinese side, the climbing permit cost for a team of 4 or more climbers is US$9,950. In addition, It is US$195,000, and the license fee required for each Nepali Sherpa is US$3,300

The deposit for garbage and human excrement on the Nepalese side is US$4,000 per team license (refundable, but not always So)

The fixed rope cost of Glacier Doctor is 2500 USD/team or 600 USD/climber

The cost of fixed rope on the glacier is 150 USD/climber, Tibet Autonomous Region side of China It is more expensive

Weather forecast costs US$0 to US$1,000

Puja costs US$300

Insurance cost: US$70 to US$3,000

Rescue insurance costs from $70 (American Alpine Club) - $500 (GlobalRescue/TravelEx)

$500 for medical insurance only

For any reason Rescue Insurance and Medical Insurance and Trip Cancellation Benefit - USD 3,000 (TravelEx)

Privately paid helicopter rescue costs on the south slope of Mount Everest range from USD 5,000 - USD 20,000, depending on departure and arrival locations (Mt. North Slope does not provide such services, but is planning)

All insurance amounts are examples only and will vary based on age, trip length and total expenses

Supplies/gear cost: $800-$29,450

You need to eat, stay warm, and 97% of Everest climbers use supplemental oxygen.

You can buy and cook your own food, but most people hire a Nepali chef and digital assistants, which costs $5,000 at base camp and more than six months on an Everest attempt. The budget for food and fuel is about $800 over the course of the week.

The price of each bottle of auxiliary oxygen is about US$550. A minimum of five bottles needs to be purchased, and the total cost is US$2,750. But you also need a $450 mask and a similarly priced $450 regulator.

You can bring your own supplementary oxygen to high-altitude camps, but most people hire Sherpas to carry the oxygen bottles to high altitudes, and hiring a personal Sherpa, standard He also needs to use supplemental oxygen to climb, even if it is adjusted to a slower flow, you will have to pay an additional $2,000.