'Conquering' nature

Why adventure tourism is becoming a threat

The mounting death toll on Everest has focused global attention on the Nepal government’s irresponsible and indiscriminate distribution of climbing permits, which caused a deadly traffic jam on the world’s highest mountain. Recent history suggests that these tragedies will be forgotten once the monsoon arrives and the climbing season ends. This has been the routine every year, and is likely to continue unless the impoverished Nepal government chooses to exercise some fiscal self-control. But Everest, its human traffic jams and the 11 tonnes of garbage collected by a clean-up expedition — not by any means the first of them —