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Nepal mulls Everest ban for disabled, old climbers
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Nepal is considering banning severely disabled climbers and those deemed too old from Everest and other mountains in an attempt to improve safety, the head of its tourism department said yesterday.
The proposals come five months after an avalanche triggered by a massive earthquake killed 18 people at Everest base camp and are aimed at improving safety, but they are also likely to spark accusations of discrimination.
“We don’t think we should issue permits to people who cannot see or walk or who don’t have arms,” tourism department chief Govinda Karki said.
“Climbing Everest is not a joke ... it is not a matter of discrimination, how can you climb without legs? Someone will have to carry you up,” he said.
“We want to make the mountains safer for everyone, so we have to insist on some rules.”
Karki said the government was also mulling issuing permits only to Everest climbers who first scale another mountain above 6,500 meters to prove they can handle the world’s highest peak.
Hundreds of climbers abandoned their bids to ascend the 8,848-meter mountain after the April disaster, marking a second spring season with virtually no one reaching the summit.
But Everest has in recent years drawn multitudes of climbers wanting to overcome their disabilities and achieve the formidable feat.
New Zealander Mark Inglis, who lost both his legs to frostbite, became the first double amputee to reach the top of Everest in 2006.
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