New Everest Regulations: You Must Climb a 7,000m Peak in Nepal First

Explorer Web ^ | February 16, 2026 | Angela Benavides

[xxqqzz]

A new Tourism Bill passed Nepal’s National Assembly last week. It will require climbers to have previously climbed a 7,000’er in Nepal before tackling Everest. In part, the move will prevent inexperienced or unfit climbers on the mountain, but it also boosts the country’s thriving expedition business.

Every year, new regulations are proposed for trekking and mountaineering in Nepal. We then wait to see which ones are actually implemented, and how. The difference this time is that the Everest rules are on the verge of becoming national law. This differs significantly from the regulations of the Department of Tourism or regional authorities.

Aerial view of the huge Everest base Camp, spreading along the Khumbu glacier.

This Integrated Tourism Bill contains numerous rules and requirements for high-altitude climbers, especially Everest clients. Everest is by far the largest source of revenue for the expedition industry. The measures will reportedly enhance safety and protect the environment, though they will mean foreign clients will pay more. The bill passed unanimously.

7,000m before Everest The most notable regulation regards previous climbing experience for Everest climbers. Every would-be Everest summiter must have climbed a 7,000m peak in Nepal.

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TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: mountainclimbing

[xxqqzz]

Seems overdue. Need to have climbed a 7K meter peak first. Everest is almost 9K meters. Need medical approval. Some other things.

About 800 people a year attempt it. 400 make it to the top. About 8 people per year killed. Sometimes inexperienced climbers pay for packages. Traffic jam near top as people need to wait for others with limited oxygen.

[frank ballenger]

This will affect my vacation plans. After canceling the Nigeria and Gaza tours.
🧗

[Verginius Rufus]

According to Wikipedia, for what it's worth, Mount Everest is 8,848.86 meters high (or 29,031 ft 8 and a half inches--that half inch must be significant).

I think I'd rather take my chances with Mt. Everett in Massachusetts which is less than 800 meters high.

[ansel12]

Smart, hopefully there are exceptions for recognized pros who have earned their chops and for whom Everest is a natural next without having to expend the money and effort to climb that one specified qualification mountain.

[packrat35]

This is nothing but a money grab disguised as a safety feature.

[MtnClimber]

Seems like a good idea. Most people have no idea of the difficulty of climbing at 7,000 meters. I climbed a peak that was only 33m short of 7k and I think 6 or 7 people died of high altitude sickness during the climbing window (about 6 weeks) that year. The weather in the Himalayas is another difficulty. I experienced it personally on a climbing expedition to 8,000m peak Cho Oyu which is just west of Everest, but much less crowded.

[ansel12]

The bill as it is current doesn’t allow for exceptions.

[Fiji Hill]

My brother climbed to the top of Mt. McKinley, which is about that same elevation. Among the members of his expedition, he was the only one to make it to the top.

[llevrok]

Everest has become a zoo. “Climbers” wait in line to summit longer here than a TSA security line. The lower camps are garbage dumps.

These are the same Lear Jet liberals who preach a green earth.

[Larry Lucido]

[Bullish]

Makes good sense to me. It will cut way down on the novice boneheads who try to make the climb and cause emergency rescues on Everest.

[Uncle Miltie]

Friends and I are going to Nepal this fall.

We’ll top out at 17,000 feet.

[Uncle Miltie]

Gaza is so 2024.

Been there, done that.

[Psalm 73]

"So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself....

"So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier....

"So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know."

" And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice."

[Carry_Okie]

This is nothing but a money grab disguised as a safety feature.

It's their asset. Without an income they cannot afford to maintain it. Are you expecting them not to seek an income from it? Aren't they entitled to make the most of it?

[Resolute Conservative]

I climbed 14’s in Colorado and Whitney back in the day with just a backpack. After the 3rd one I quit doing it. Because once you climb to the top of any 14’er plus in the US that is a moderate to difficult climb and once you get to the top and look around it all looks the same (like Chevy Chase at the Grand Canyon in Vacation). Blue skies, bare rock and snow. Just like any other mountain in any country.

Below 10 to 11,000 is where all the beauty and neat stuff is.

[MtnClimber]

Nepal is a fascinating country. Watch out for cobras around the temples in Kathmandu. I had one pop it’s head up out of the high grass at the Monkey Temple.

[DCBryan1]

Want to climb? Fund brining a body down and 1 ton on trash down first.

[Leaning Right]

I’m getting older. But yes, I still like to challenge myself.

[hinckley buzzard]

I’m not a climber but this makes eminent common sense. I’m sure many of the fatalities are unqualified unfit amateurs who have no business at those altitudes.