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Nepal says it will ban foreigners from climbing Mount Everest this year in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Key points:
- The peak climbing season is from March to May and attracts a large number of Australians
- Nepal makes more than $5 million a year just from the permit fees it charges climbers each year
- Clearing Everest of climbers may allow local authorities to clean up the rubbish and place new ropes on the routes
The move will devastate the nation's economy and stop thousands of Australian adventurers from visiting the tourist hotspot.
Nepal has also halted its popular visa-on-arrival scheme, which will make it almost impossible for Australians to visit the country.
More than 30,000 Australians travel to Nepal each year, with the spring climbing season beginning in March and peaking in April and May.
Nepal relies heavily on tourism revenue, with hotels, airlines and the huge mountain-guiding community all set to suffer losses from the decision.
Australian high-altitude mountaineer Andrew Lock has travelled to Nepal most years and said closing Everest for a season would have a devastating effect on the mountaineering business in the country.
"That's going to be totally cruelled and a lot of money will be lost to the country," Mr Lock said.
The impoverished nation makes more than $5 million just from the permit fees it charges foreigners to climb Mount Everest.
Millions more tourist dollars are poured into restaurants, hotels, remote villages and go to local porters and trekking companies.
Mr Lock says villages near the mountains will be hit hard.
"Virtually the entire economy is based on mountain tourism," he said.
"They employ locals as porters, then as you get into the upper regions where Sherpas are sourced, those Sherpas will miss out on that employment so it will be a massive hit."
A single trekking season allows many villagers to earn more than they would in a whole year's subsistence farming.
Tourism brings more than $1 billion into the Nepalese economy each year.
The last tourism downturn of this scale was caused by the 2015 earthquake, which killed 9,000 people including 21 climbers at Everest Base Camp.
Nepalese authorities said the ban on visa-on-arrival for tourists would last until the end of April and extend to all nationalities.
Until the ban is lifted, Australians wanting to travel to Nepal but not climb Everest will have to visit a Nepalese embassy or consulate in Australia and present a medical certificate proving they are not sick.
Clearing Everest of climbers for a season may have a silver lining for the Himalayas themselves.
Last year, a record number of permits meant Mount Everest was overrun with climbers last year, leading to human traffic jams on the summit.
It was also one of the deadliest seasons on the peak, with 11 people dying in their bid for summit glory.
Environmental advocates have long called for climbing to be reduced or paused to allow for the collection of tonnes of rubbish and debris, including bodies, that have been left on the mountain over the years.
The closure could also allow for local Nepalese mountaineers to improve ropes and other infrastructure on the overworked climbing route, however, there are doubts as to whether that will happen.
"That won't happen unless they're paid and the Government is most unlikely to pay them to do that," Mr Lock said.
Mr Lock said he hoped the Nepalese visa he was issued a few days ago was still valid because he planned to head to the mountains regardless.
"At this stage, if they will let me in then I'm intending to travel there," he said.
He said dedicated mountaineers would not be too bothered if expeditions are cancelled.
"If people are serious about going off to climb a mountain, then people are serious about going off to climb a mountain, then being put off by six months or a year shouldn't be the end of most dreams."
Topics: infectious-diseases-other, respiratory-diseases, travel-health-and-safety, travel-and-tourism, nepal