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Nepal May Ban Novices From Climbing Everest

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NEPAL-DISASTER-EARTHQUAKE
In this photograph taken on April 25, 2015, rescuers use a makeshift stretcher to carry an injured person after an avalanche triggered by an earthquake flattened parts of Everest Base Camp. Rescuers in Nepal are searching frantically for survivors of a huge quake on April 25, that killed nearly 2,000, digging through rubble in the devastated capital Kathmandu and airlifting victims of an avalanche at Everest base camp.Roberto Schmidt—AFP/Getty Images
By Sarah Begley

Officials in Nepal are weighing a ban on novice climbers at Mount Everest.

Just five months after the country was devastated by an earthquake, some officials say they would like to limit access to the world’s highest peak to those who have already climbed mountains at least 21,000 feet (6,500 meters) high; Mount Everest is more than 29,000 feet (8,850 meters). They would also like to prohibit disabled visitors who must be carried up the mountain, though disabled people who can climb themselves would still be permitted, according to the Guardian.

The proposed changes are intended to limit injury and protect the landscape. It is unclear how officials would measure climbers’ competence, and skeptics (including the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association) say similar proposals have failed in the past.

[The Guardian]

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