A record 274 climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest in a single day this week, as critics warn the world’s tallest peak is becoming dangerously overcrowded with thrill-seekers willing to pay $15,000 for a shot at the top.
The surge shattered the previous Nepali record of 223 climbers set in 2019, Rishi Bhandari, secretary general of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal, told Reuters on Thursday.
"This is the highest number of climbers in a single day so far," Bhandari said, adding that the final summit total could rise even further as some climbers had not yet officially reported their successful ascents.
Nepal has already issued 494 Everest climbing permits this season, each costing climbers $15,000.
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Climbers this year are ascending only from the Nepal side of Everest because China reportedly did not issue permits for expeditions from the Tibetan side.
Mountaineering experts have long criticized Nepal for allowing large numbers of climbers on Everest, warning that overcrowding can create life-threatening bottlenecks high on the mountain in Everest’s deadly "death zone," where oxygen levels plunge to dangerously low levels.
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Nepal has attempted to respond to safety concerns in recent years by tightening rules and increasing fees for climbers, though some expedition leaders have defended the high number of climbers.
"If teams carry enough oxygen it is not a big problem," expedition organizer Lukas Furtenbach of the Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures told the outlet. "We have mountains in the Alps like the Zugspitze where we have 4,000 persons on top per day. So 274 is actually not a big number, considering this mountain is 10 times bigger."
