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Nepal Issues New Rules for Mount Everest Climbers After Deaths Spike

The country will now require “prior high altitude mountaineering experience and training” in order to get a permit to scale the mountain.

Nepal will now require prior mountaineering experience and training for those who seek to obtain permits to climb Mount Everest, The Guardian reported Wednesday.

A Nepalese commission recommended that those who want to climb the mountain must go through “basic and high altitude climbing training” and a climb of at least one Nepalese peak of at least 21,325 feet in elevation. The commission also said would-be climbers should submit a certificate of good health and be accompanied by a trained Nepalese guide on their journey. A senior tourism ministry official told Reuters the panel’s suggestions would be implemented.

The commission, made up of government officials and climbing experts, was set up after the previous permit policy was criticized. Some said letting anyone who paid $11,000 to climb Everest was akin to allowing inexperienced climbers to endanger their own lives and contribute to crowding near the peak. The new rules come after the mountain had one of its deadliest seasons, with 11 climbers considered dead or missing in May alone.