Everest traffic jam

UK Daily Mail ^ | 06/02/2026 | Jada Bas

[DFG]

Mount Everest climbers were seen in a huge human traffic jam amid a record number of visitors to the major landmark.

Footage published on social media shows hundreds of people at a standstill slowly making their way up Hillary Step, a 40-foot vertical rock on the path of the mountain.

The caption of the video read: 'Nearly 3 hours to cross this area due to congestion and difficult movement conditions at high altitude.

'Is this serious? Spending all this money on carriers and guides just to get stuck in a traffic jam!'

Sitting at 8,790 metres above sea level on the southeast ridge, Hillary Step is halfway between the South Summit and the true summit.

It is located in the 'Death Zone', considered the most technically difficult part of the Everest climb and the last challenge before reaching the top of the mountain.

A record number of climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest in a single day from the Nepal side of the mountain, officials said.

An estimated 275 people scaled the 29,032ft peak on Wednesday, marking the highest ever number of single-day summits recorded from the route.

The milestone has surpassed the previous record set on May 22, 2019, when 223 climbers scaled Everest from its southern side in Nepal.

It has renewed fears about overcrowding on the world’s highest mountain, with huge queues of climbers snaking towards the summit during the narrow weather window.

Experts often criticise Nepal for allowing large ​numbers of climbers on the ​mountain, which sometimes leads to ⁠risky traffic jams or long queues in the area just below the summit, where the level of natural oxygen is dangerously below what is required for human survival.

Expedition organisers have acknowledged the dangers of congestion but say the risks can be managed.

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TOPICS: Outdoors
KEYWORDS: deathzone; everest; hillarystep; mounteverest; nepal

[DFG]

"Since September 2025, mountaineers have had to pay $15,000 (£11,164) for a permit, up from the longstanding fee of $11,000, in the first price increase in nearly a decade."

[dfwgator]

[Sirius Lee]

Gee. Looks fun. Nature ‘n stuff.

[ComputerGuy]

Enjoy the view while you’re waiting.
Tell yourself it was worth it.

[stars & stripes forever]

Will increased number of climbers weaken or erode the climbing path?

[ponygirl]

Looks like downtown Seattle.

[Red Badger]

Ping!....................

[Ueriah]

I got into Mt Everest a little bit after I read Dan Simmon’s “The Abdominable” and it really gave me a love of the whole adventure of climbing a mountain in the 1930s.

The author recently passed away - he wrote over several genres and won many awards - when he died recently I was appalled at the number of comments expressing vitrol that he had been a conservative author.

[Hot Tabasco]

"Climbing Mount Everest generally costs between $45,000 and $100,000, with a median price of roughly $55,000 to $65,000. However, total costs depend on your chosen route, the level of support, and luxury amenities, and can range anywhere from $30,000 to over $300,000"

[MtnClimber]

What a mess and very dangerous.

[rlmorel]

[crusty old prospector]

Do you have a gluten-free vegan option?

[KarlInOhio]

Nepal should put in a nice gondola lift system to the gift shop at the summit. They could have thousands of people “climb” Everest every day.

[MV=PY]

Ugh.

I’ll put that trip in the postscript of my bucket list.

[dfwgator]

Challenging Everest? Why not drop in at Ricky Pules' - only 24,000 feet from this cinema.

[Scrambler Bob]

Mark 4 later

[Captain Walker]

This is what you call a “first-world” problem.

[chajin]

making their way up Hillary Step

I never remember seeing Hillary Step. I remember her tripping a few times.

[OKSooner]

Look how cool I am.

[T.B. Yoits]