Nepal to tighten rules governing Everest expeditions to ward off current chaos

The rules to the expeditions on the Mount Everest are reportedly going to be tightened and for the first time a government team will be located at the base camp to monitor the activities of climbers.

According to the BBC, Nepalese officials have said that the government team at the base camp will help coordinate rescue measures and also protect the environment.

Chief of the tourism industry division that oversees mountaineering, Purna Chandra Bhattarai said that permanent government mechanism at the Everest base camp will regulate mountaineering activities and the Integrated Service Centre will also facilitate climbers by offering them communication and safety related services.

The changes to the climbing rules come in light of past incidents where embarrassing events take place at the world's tallest peak including fights between sherpas and mountaineers.

Former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Ang Tshering Sherpa said that these days people are trying to make bizarre records on the summit like taking off their clothes or standing on their heads.

However, the new rules would require the climbers to announce before the beginning of the summit if they plan to set any record and then the team would decide if the planned record-making effort falls within stipulated criteria set by the government.

The report said that other changes in the climbing rules including restriction to the use of helicopter flights to nearby Everest slopes except for rescue measures as even the sound and vibration can cause the snow to fall thereby endangering lives of other climbers and also rubbish management.

Meanwhile, an expedition operator said that the idea of regulating mountaineers from the Everest base camp itself is great, only if the officials entrusted with the duty are regulated first, the report added.