Blind people, double amputees banned from climbing Everest

Solo climbers, blind people and double amputees have been banned from climbing Everest under new rules the Nepalese tourism ministry believes will reduce the number of deaths on the mountain.

The changes have provoked criticism from the US ambassador to Nepal and a former Gurkha soldier planning to scale the peak after losing both legs in Afghanistan.

The new rules have been under discussion for a month and were implemented last week, Nepalese officials told the Himalayan Times.

Individual climbers will need to be accompanied by a mountain guide, and high-altitude workers who accompany expeditions to the summit are eligible to receive summit certificates under the revised regulations.

A suggested upper age limit of 76 for climbers – which Nepalese alpine associations had lobbied for after the death of an 85-year-old climber in May – has not been implemented, but the government maintained the ban on climbers under 16.

Everest once attracted only elite climbers, but as the relative cost of scaling the peak has fallen, the mountain has recorded numbers of aspiring mountaineers, including many from China and India.

Experienced climbers have raised concern that the mountain is becoming dangerously overcrowded and that new companies with lower safety standards have rushed to fill demand in the market.

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