Nepal’s government decides who may attempt Everest from the Nepalese side, and it does so one permit at a time. It sets no ceiling on how many it hands out. In 2024 the country’s Supreme Court told the government to issue fewer permits, yet no fixed limit followed. What controls the crowd instead is a fee and a growing list of conditions a climber must meet.
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Who issues the permit
Every climber starting in Nepal needs a government permit and must pay for it. National Geographic reports that the Ministry of Tourism issued a record 408 Everest permits in 2021. Wanderlust puts the record higher, at 454 permits in 2023. The ministry took in $5.2 million from Everest permit fees in 2018, according to National Geographic.
Western climbers have accused the government of letting anyone up who can pay, the BBC reported. The government denies this. Yubaraj Khatiwada, a director at Nepal’s Department of Tourism, rejected that criticism of the permit numbers. His plan was to post doctors and officials at base camp for the first time and to spread summit bids across the good weather.
Why the numbers matter on the mountain
The permit count does not tell you how many people stand on the ridge on a given day. Climbers wait for a gap between spells of high wind, so many go for the top together. On one day in May 2019, 358 people reached the summit. That month, oxygen cylinders ran out while up to 100 people queued near the top, The Guardian reported.
A later spring season left 12 confirmed dead and five missing, more than the 11 lost in 2019, the BBC reported.
The price
For the first time in nearly a decade, Nepal raised the fee in September 2025. The rise was 36 percent in every season. The spring permit for April and May went from $11,000 to $15,000. Autumn, from September to November, now costs $7,500. Winter, from December to February, costs $3,750.
Narayan Prasad Regmi, director general of the tourism department, told Reuters the fees “had not been reviewed for a long time”. The permit is a small share of the bill. A place on a commercial team costs $40,000 to $100,000, National Geographic found. The British climber Kenton Cool, with 18 summits, told BBC News most foreign climbers would not feel the rise.
The test
The rules on experience came after a deadly 2019 season. A government panel then recommended that climbers first summit a Nepalese peak above 6,500 metres. It also asked for a health certificate and a trained Nepalese guide for every climber. Ghanshyam Upadhyaya, a senior tourism official, said the government would write the changes into law.
The bar has since risen. Time Out reported in May 2025 that Nepal would issue permits only to climbers who had already topped a 7,000-metre peak in Nepal. A medical certificate dated within 30 days of the expedition is now required. Every climber must also hire a Nepali guide. Nepal made tracking devices compulsory in 2024 and banned solo climbs above 8,000 metres in 2025. Climbers must also carry their own waste down to base camp in special bags.
So the answer to who decides is Kathmandu. The open question is whether a price and a test can do what a cap would, while the Supreme Court’s order still waits for a number.
