What is the average cost to climb everest

In , one person who climbed without a permit was caught, deported and banned from climbing in Nepal for five years by the Nepal authorities. Both sides are cracking down on unauthorized climbing, so beware. Most guide companies on the Nepal side will require at least evacuation insurance and most require medical coverage.

One of the best investments you can make is to add trip cancellation to the policy. Travelex is a popular choice but expensive. Most people upgrade that basic coverage for a few hundred dollars. RipCord is another popular evacuation company. With all these policies you must follow their rules exactly or you will not be covere—and I mean exactly , one misstep and you are not covered.

Also, most do not cover search and rescue operations, and those that do have low limits. Finally, Nepal was requiring Covid insurance but may drop that requirement before the season starts. However, many of the traditional evacuation companies will not cover you for anything involving or related to Covid, so once again, double check the policy and get everything in writing. This is not a big deal for independent climbers since many guides are glad to have you on their permit for a small fee and not provide any support.

This price includes transportation from the entry point in China usually Lhasa or Zhangmu—Kodari to base camp, hotels, liaison officer, trash fee, and five yaks in and four yaks out per member. The Tibet side is more complicated for evacuation insurance since a centralized team does the rescues. A person being rescued is on the hook for an unspecified and unlimited amount of money.

Helicopters are not allowed but are rumored to be offered in the next few years, maybe by It would be wise to double check everything with your provider to understand the details when climbing in China. You can carry your own extra oxygen to the high camps, but most people use the Sherpas to cache them at the high camps.

Finally, you will need climbing gear including boots, down suit, clothing layers, gloves, sleeping bags, packs and more. You can often find lightly used climbing gear on eBay.

See my current gear list. With all the previous costs broken out, it can be overwhelming. But that is changing. In the last few years, there has been intense competition from Nepali-owned and operated companies. These cost savings are passed on to the expedition members. However, in , we are seeing Sherpas receiving pay similar to Westerners so the price gap is much narrower today. Still, some Nepali operators are well-known for underpaying their staff, thereby enabling them to offer climbs that are half to a third of the price of traditional Western operators.

One common trend is that almost all the Nepali guides will privately negotiate and discount their trip prices, while most foreign operators will not. Many of the lead Sherpas now have a subset of the UIAGM mountain certification no ski qualification for example and most have more summits than the Western guides.

This trend will drive the cost of the Nepali companies up over time as more and more Sherpas become certified. With all this as background, I used public websites and my own research to compile the Everest fees from the major Everest guide companies. I looked back at their summit rates and historical numbers where available using my own research, their websites and the Himalayan Database.

Remember, there were virtually no climbers on Everest in This is not a complete list of all guides and I did not look at small one-person operations or those that do not run climbs each year for more than one or two members. No commentary is implied by exclusion or inclusion on this list and is to be used for reference only. Check with the operator for details and questions. Without a doubt, climbing with a Nepali-owned company is half the price of a foreign operator with multiple western guides.

Some foreign companies do offer Sherpa-led trips. Prices usually include full logistics support, gear, food, Personal Sherpa guide, oxygen, oxygen-mask, and regulator. You can see my thoughts on Everest guides on my main site at Selecting a Guide. Anyone can call themselves a guide in Nepal, however there are three options for supported climbs: Sherpa-supported, Sherpa-guided and a Western foreign guided commercial expedition. All leverage group costs such as deposits, cooks, and tents across multiple climbers.

Please note this is Sherpa-supported— not guided—and what most Nepali-owned companies offer. The company organizes all the logistics—food, group gear, transportation—plus Sherpa support, but does not provide Western guides or, in some cases, even a lead Sherpa guide.

You must be extremely careful when selecting among these options as some are excellent and others are lacking. A Sherpa will climb with you on summit night but you might be on your own with random teammates throughout the rest of the acclimatization climbing process, including preparing meals at the high camps.

It is quite common to find yourself climbing only with a Sherpa or even by yourself. The Sherpas may have attended a climbing school, but will usually lack basic medical training and may not be of significant help in a health crisis other than getting you lower, which is substantial and often life-saving. Asian Trekking specializes in this style of climb and is outstanding.

Seven Summits Treks is another option at a lower cost and many small one-man Nepali companies offer even lower prices. This is a good option for the climber with significant high-altitude experience, including previous Everest experience. It is not for the novice or first-timer on an 8,meter peak. Usually, they depend on a Sirdar a highly experienced senior Sherpa to make big decisions such as when to go for the summit or when to turn-around.

Also, there is usually a Westerner overseeing the expedition in Base Camp, but not climbing. These Sherpas have gained significant experience and training in dealing in one-to-one ratios with Western clients. Their English skills are usually very good. Still, you will never climb alone. While they will not carry all your gear, they may offload some items from time to time. They will be with you exclusively on your summit night even if you turn around before the summit.

This style is appropriate for climbers with previous 8,meter experience and those who are unusually strong, but again not for the novice. This includes all the services of a Sherpa-guided climb, plus sharing one or more western guides with other teammates.

The major draw of this approach is you are climbing in close proximity to a Western guide who most likely has summited Everest several times.

There is no language barrier and the guide will make all the decisions as to turn-around times, weather and emergency management. On these higher-end expeditions, you will likely have a high quality of food ranging from better prepared to exotic. One service likes to promote their sushi, another their five-star chef. It includes:. Do I have to take the standard routes? You can get a permit to climb any of the 30 named routes on Everest or make up your own. If you want to traverse from Nepal to Tibet or the other way, you will need to get permits from both countries however China has refused to issue permission from their side for many years now.

In a climber illegally made the traverse and was deported and banned for 5 years. He claimed it was a medical emergency. Officially, No. The Nepal Ministry of Tourism requires every climber to hire a Sherpa guide.

Keep reading: Summary of K2 Winter thus far. This is part of a troubling trend that has gained traction in the past few years in which inexperienced clients opt to hire less expensive and often unqualified guides to climb the peak. These guides did not know how to push the clients and the clients were ill-prepared for climbing at such high altitudes. While fewer people will climb Everest this year due to the closure of the Tibetan side, another season of poor weather combined with all ascents taking place from Nepal could mean the summit will once again be crowded with climbers.

The cost of climbing Mount Everest continues to climb each year, but is expected to be an even more expensive year than usual. While certain aspects of the costs should not be skimped on, there are other places where a few dollars can be saved.

The Nepalese government requires all climbers and trekkers arriving in the country to have proof of a seven-day hotel reservation in the capital. After the fifth day of the quarantine, climbers and trekkers may take a PCR test at their own expense. If the result is negative, they will be able to proceed on their expedition.

If it is positive, they will need to wait another week in quarantine before taking another PCR test. Even if the requirement is dropped, many evacuation teams will not get involved if anyone has COVID As a result, climbers should have insurance either way. Away from additional costs incurred by COVID, there are three major price components to any Mount Everest climbing expedition: travel, permits and insurance, and supplies and gear.

From the Nepalese side, there are also two different ways to make the ascent: hiring an all-inclusive guiding service that takes care of everything from arrival in Kathmandu to the return departure from Lukla and a cheaper logistics-only option. By law, every foreign climber in Nepal is required to hire a local Sherpa guide. A logistics-only option would mean the climbers are on their own getting to EBC and would later hire a local company to provide all the necessary camping and cooking gear as well as support staff for the summit ascent.

Climbing from the Tibetan side is a bit different. A liaison from the Chinese Mountaineering Association will meet all climbers at their port of entry to the country and accompany them throughout the ascent until departure. From Kathmandu, climbers will need to test and quarantine prices mentioned above before flying to Lukla or Lhasa, Tibet. This will also cost a few hundred dollars. To save some money on the Nepalese side, it is possible to take a bus to Jiri and trek five days to Lukla and then on to EBC.

The amount spent will depend on the quality of the places in which the climber stays. As a result of COVID, many climbers are opting to camp instead and avoid the close-quarters of the traditional tea houses.

This is also a more cost-efficient way to make the trek to EBC. Aside from room and board, climbers also need to transport all of their gear from Lukla to base camp. A combination of yak and porters usually does this. As a general rule, the higher the cost the more services that are provided; however, such a fact should not be relied upon blindly.

These additional services would include such items as:. So that you can better understand where the headline dollar figure comes from, the table below gives a breakdown of typical costs for an Everest expedition.