Can I climb Mount Everest if I have money?
Regarding the over-commercialization of climbing Mount Everest, a famous mountaineer once said: Climbing on the traditional routes of the southern and northern slopes of Mount Everest can only be called sightseeing.
On the southern slope on the Nepal side, if you want to climb Mount Everest, there are many international alpine adventure companies that can provide services, with commercial quotations ranging from US$30,000 to US$120,000. "As long as you pay, whether you have mountaineering experience or not, you can always find a commercial mountaineering company to take you to the top."
The low threshold makes more and more amateurs, even without any climbing experience, want to try to climb Mount Everest. This extreme sport has become a game for the rich.
Advances in mountaineering technology and equipment have helped hundreds of people stand on top of the world in the past few decades. The rising number sends out a signal to amateur climbers and careerists: I can do the same.
There is a set of comparative data like this: In 2003, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the summit of Mount Everest, the country organized the first large-scale Mount Everest climbing activity. When Wang Shi reached the summit, he ranked about 1,700. By 2019, there have been nearly 10,000 summit records.
"In the 1970s and 1980s, the people who visited Mount Everest were usually famous mountaineers. In these years, Mount Everest has been a commercialized mountain, and those who have come are rich." Sherpa guide from Nepal Norbu Sherpa, in an interview with The New York Times in 2013, once commented on the Mount Everest expedition.
In 1953, when Edmund Hillary and guide Tenzin Nogay, a member of the British mountaineering team, became the first team ever to successfully climb Mount Everest, they could only survive on canned food, nuts and sardines. . Today, climbers can eat sushi, drink red wine, and even participate in yoga classes at Everest Base Camp.
"In fact, for the vast majority of travelers who come to Mount Everest, reaching the summit does not require any skill. The trend that has become more and more intense in the past decade is that people have started to use oxygen from base camps. However, in the past few decades, Professional mountaineers usually only consider using oxygen cylinders at altitudes above 8000 meters. Now they (referring to amateur climbers) use oxygen cylinders as if they are drinking water." The professional climber Ralf Dujmovits, who has successfully won Mount Everest, said In 2012, I complained to the Guardian about the "amateur" trend of climbing Mount Everest.
According to a report in the New York Times, some climbers who appeared on Mount Everest did not even know how to put on studs that were placed under their shoes to increase friction on the ice. "There are qualifications required to participate in triathlons... but not necessary to climb the highest peaks in the world? Don't you think there is something wrong with it?" Alan Arnette, a professional mountaineer, asked in an interview with the New York Times.
Mountain climbing can generate about 300 million U.S. dollars in income for Nepal each year. Regarding mountaineering companies with mixed fish and dragons and climbers without any experience, Nepalese officials have indicated that the authorities may revise the law and put forward more requirements on the qualifications of climbers and mountaineering companies.
Many amateur climbers choose the latter between the northern route of China and the southern route of Nepal. The reason is not only that the distance on the Nepal side is shorter, but more importantly, compared to the Chinese government, Nepal has no restrictions on the number and qualifications of climbers, and the service fees charged by local companies in Nepal are also lower.
How much does it cost to climb Mount Everest?
The cost of climbing the southern slope of Mount Everest in Nepal has risen from US$40,000/person in 2016 to US$45,900/person in 2019, which is approximately RMB 317,800/person. On the northern slope of Mount Everest in China, a professional mountaineering company in Tibet offered reporters close to 460,000 yuan per person.
But it should be noted that no matter which side of Mount Everest you choose to climb from, the above quotation is only a "team fee", and there are tens of thousands of fees that need to be paid by the climber.
In the early stage of the climb, it is mainly personal equipment costs, as well as domestic transportation, board and lodging expenses to and from Nepal. Personal insurance is usually not included. "For about two months before and after, the personal insurance cost is about 3000-6000 RMB." .
Every activity at the base camp on the south side of Mount Everest has a clear cost. For example, before the climber arrives, the road repairer known as the "Glacier Doctor" will fix the ladders and ropes in each camp to repair the road. Therefore, in the tour fee, a "clear price" payment fee is "Glacier Doctor" road repair cost of 600 USD/person.
The section from Camp 3 to the summit is opened by several large climbing companies in turn every year, and other companies or individual climbers need to pay a road clearance fee of $500/person for this. In addition, to obtain weather services during the climbing process, you also need to pay.
If you want to surf the Internet in the base camp, the cost is RMB 300 per G of traffic, and the network speed is often not guaranteed.
There is no internet service during the climbing process, and communication with the outside world is mainly through satellite phone. As part of the location is close to China, domestic service providers can also be used during the climbing of the southern slope of Mount Everest. The maritime satellite fee is 1.8 yuan/min. And if you choose an international service provider, such as Iridium, the cost is RMB 7-8 per minute.
In addition, a necessary personal expense is the tip (top bonus) to the Sherpa, and there is an unwritten rule that, regardless of whether it reaches the top or not, a tip of about US$1,500 is usually required for the Sherpa.
Another item is a tip for the logistics team staying at the base camp. At the base camp, there are waiters, chefs, and porters, and climbers need to pay a tip of $300.
In terms of helicopter rescue, the cost of rescue at the 7790-meter C2 camp is $7,000 per plane, and the cost will be evenly shared if multiple people use it.
If you reach the C3 camp at 8,300 meters, the cost will be higher. However, in many cases, due to the bad weather in the C3 camp, it is difficult for the helicopter to reach this altitude to start rescue.
Some mountaineering companies have given a detailed list of additional costs. Among them, in the case of ensuring that the climber and the Sherpa are 1:1, if the climber needs more Sherpa cooperation, the cost of each additional Sherpa is 8,000 US dollars per person. Each additional bottle of oxygen costs US$550 (base camp price only), and the rent for an additional oxygen mask is US$350/set.
The cheapest company is a local mountaineering company in Nepal. The team cost of some small mountaineering companies is between US$30,000 and 40,000 per person. For Chinese companies and mountaineering companies from other countries, their team costs are in the median, ranging from 40,000 to 60,000 US dollars per person; European companies are the most expensive, and their tour fees are quoted at 60,000 to 80,000 US dollars. Customers have special requirements and designated mountain cooperation, the price will be higher, "They use the most experienced European and American guides, in addition to logistics support is also quite unique, there is a saying that they are drinking champagne and coffee. Peak", described by a mountain friend.
Before climbing Mount Everest, climbers usually have a complete advanced route of 5000-6000-7000-8000 meters:
There are many peaks at the 5000-meter level, and the cost is 2000-5000 RMB;
Among the 6000-meter-level peaks, if you choose Jade Everest or Queer Mountain, the price will be 10,000 yuan;
For the 7000-meter class, there is Muztag Peak, which costs about 40,000 RMB;
The price of 8,000-meter peaks, including Xishapangma, Lhotse, etc., soared to RMB 150,000-200,000.
This means that before climbing Mount Everest, the total cost of climbers to complete a series of advanced stages will be close to 300,000 yuan, and together with the cost of climbing Mount Everest, a climber will spend at least 700,000 yuan. about.
The mountaineering industry behind Mount Everest?
Since the mountains of Nepal began to open to mountaineering enthusiasts in 1949, the mountaineering industry has gradually become an important project in Nepal's tourism industry, which is a profitable undertaking.
After the congestion of Mount Everest in 2012, Ralf Dujmovits once told Outdoor magazine that although he deeply hoped that the traffic of Mount Everest could be reduced, he was worried that taking pictures of the snake-like summit team might only make Mount Everest is more popular: "People may start to think, if there are so many people (can climb Mount Everest), I can also line up."
Things really got worse as he expected.
Professional mountaineers and mountaineering organizations who want to change the status quo, hope to solve the problem from the source and push the Nepalese government to formulate strict policies to limit the number of climbers and review the qualifications of climbers.
In 2015, the Nepalese government indeed proposed that in order to improve safety and maintain the "brilliance" of Mount Everest, it would prohibit inexperienced climbers from climbing Mount Everest. Officials of the Nepal Tourism Bureau also stated that the Everest climbing permit will only be issued to people who can prove their success in climbing the peaks above 6,500 meters in the future; the disabled, the elderly and minors will not be granted climbing permits.
In April of that year, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred in Nepal and a large avalanche broke out on Mount Everest. After the disaster, the Nepalese government ran aground on restrictions on the flow of people and organized a group of Sherpa guides and climbers to lay the climbing route on Mount Everest for several weeks.
In this country with a per capita GDP of less than US$1,000, just issuing a permit for climbing Everest can also create an objective income. What's more, the Everest fever can also revitalize the local mountaineering industry.
For the Nepalese government, the most direct income comes from income from mountain climbing permits. Danduraj Ghimire, director of the Nepal Tourism Bureau, told the New York Times that the government will not restrict the flow of people on Mount Everest: "If you really want to limit the number of climbers, then none of us should go to our sacred mountain."
The Nepalese government obviously will not reject inexperienced amateur climbers, and these people just need the former to open up a climbing path to achieve their ambitions.
The commercialization status quo of "getting what you need" will not improve in the short term. The only thing we can do is probably like Ralf Dujmovits in 2012, hoping that people will automatically be scared off by the experience of "big congestion" and those who lost their lives.
Who goes to Mount Everest?
Someone will ask: What kind of people are climbing Mount Everest?
Throughout the history of climbing Mount Everest, it can be said that as long as humans still exist, the ambition of stepping on the world's highest peak at an altitude of 8,884.43 will not disappear.
On May 29, 1953, New Zealander Edmund Hillary climbed Mount Everest for the first time. After that, a steady stream of people joined the ranks of Mount Everest.
On May 25, 1960, the front page of the People’s Daily reported the good news that Chinese mountaineers Wang Fuzhou, Gongbu and Qu Yinhua climbed Mount Everest from the northeast ridge. They became the first Chinese to climb Mount Everest, and they were also the first to follow. The world record for Mount Everest on the North Slope.
Until the 21st century, 52-year-old entrepreneur Wang Shi started a new trend. Since then, mountaineering has become a sport sought after by merchants.
A boss of a building decoration engineering company once told reporters that he has climbed for many years. "People in the mountaineering circle are generally older, and their personal assets are at least five or six million or even tens of millions, and 20% of them- 30% of customers have a social purpose." He said frankly, "Most people now climb for the summit, rarely because they love mountaineering." Compared with this, he admires those who purely love the sport. Foreigners.
In the eyes of Sherpa Tianba, there are two kinds of people who come to Nepal to climb Mount Everest: one is a rich person who wants to play, but he doesn't understand the risks of climbing, and he doesn't even change the oxygen cylinder. They expected the Sherpa to be their all-powerful guide and nanny, but they never thought that the Sherpa was also a human. In case of any accident, they had to face it themselves.
But there is another kind of people, they are true outdoor sports enthusiasts, they conquer one by one mountain.
There are millions of ways of living in the world, just find your own way of living.
