Alpine association says tighter restrictions needed after Min Bahadur Sherchan died as he prepared to ascend mountain

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Nepal’s biggest alpine association will push the country’s government to implement an age limit on who can climb the world’s tallest mountain after the death of an 85-year-old at Everest base camp at the weekend, the second fatality in the past week.

The body of Min Bahadur Sherchan, at one time the oldest man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, was airlifted from base camp on Saturday afternoon after a suspected heart attack.



He had been preparing to ascend to the 29,029ft (8,848-metre) summit to reclaim his record, broken in 2013 by the Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura, then aged 80.

While paying tribute to the “legendary” mountaineer, Nepal’s peak alpine club said on Monday his death underlined the need for tighter restrictions on who could climb the mountain.

“It’s been a decade since we have been advocating for the age limit, 16 years to 76 years,” said Ang Tshering Sherpa, the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

“It has to come into effect as soon as possible to avoid disasters like the death of Min Bahadur Sherchan. We have been pushing for [it] and we will bring it to the government’s notice once again.”

The Nepal government announced two years ago it was considering introducing regulations, including a ban on novice climbers and anyone aged above 75. A ban on anyone under 16 climbing is already in place.

The tighter rules – which include requiring climbers to have ascended a peak at least 21,000ft high in the past – have yet to be implemented and attracted widespread criticism, including from local communities who depend on revenue from overseas climbers.

Sherpa said some human rights groups and foreign embassies were sceptical whether earlier proposed restrictions, including on disabled climbers, would stem the death toll on the mountain.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Official carry the body of Min Bahadur Sherchan to Lukla heli pad. Photograph: Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images

Only a tiny fraction of those who have died trying to climb Everest have been disabled or outside the 18-75 age window.

According to data up to 2014, only 26 people under 18 and three over 75 have reached the peak of the mountain, fewer than half of 1% of total climbs.

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In the same period, two climbers classified by the Himalayan Database to have disabilities died while trying to climb Everest, from 28 attempts.

Ascents from the Tibetan side of the mountain are restricted by the Chinese government to those between 18 and 60 years old. The restrictions were put in place the same year Jordan Romero, 13, from California, became the youngest person to reach Everest’s summit.

The head of Nepal’s tourism department, Dinesh Bhattarai, said on Monday the government had yet to be approached with a proposal to restrict climbing permits, which cost $11,000 (£8,000).

Nepal has issued about 376 permits to foreigners this year, the highest number since the 1950s, and many people whose climbs were postponed after deadly earthquakes in past years are expected to return.

Veteran mountaineers have warned the peak will become overcrowded, and that the improvements in technology are attracting less experienced people to Everest, potentially compromising the safety of all climbers.

A British mountaineer, Tim Mosedale, complained on Facebook last month of finding a group of novice climbers attempting to navigate the treacherous Khumbu Icefall without oxygen, one even applying their ice crampons to the wrong feet.

He said their inexperience and the lack of professionalism from their Sherpa guides was a “toxic mix”.

“Everest is hazardous enough as it is without complete novices being looked after by inexperienced Sherpas from teams with a poor sense of professionalism,” Mosedale said.

Ueli Stick, a highly experienced Swiss climber, died in a fall at Mount Nuptse, a peak near Everest last week. Described as “one of the finest alpinists of his, or any, generation”, he had planned to ascend Everest in spring.

A South African national was also caught on Monday trying to climb Everest without a permit. He was turned back, fined $22,000 and had his passport confiscated.

