On April 12 last year, tonnes of ice mass moved downslope and buried three Sherpa guides. It was the season’s first accident on the world’s tallest peak—Everest. The bodies have yet to be recovered.

The spring climbing season last year was one of the deadliest, claiming 17 climbers on Everest. Six bodies, however, are yet to be found as most of them are buried under the snow.

As casualties on Everest continue to grow, the government has made it mandatory for climbers and guides aspiring to climb Everest to be strapped with a tracking chip or a GPS device.

“The new rule is in response to rising casualties on Everest. It will allow for a prompt search and rescue,” said Rakesh Gurung, director at the Department of Tourism, the government agency responsible for issuing expedition permits.

“Last spring, we were unable to locate some bodies,” he said. “And after a round of discussions with the expedition operators and Nepal Mountaineering Association, we have decided to make it mandatory for climbers to carry a tracking device from this year’s climbing season.”

The department passed the new rule on February 27.

“The purpose of the device is to facilitate prompt search and rescue operations,” he said, adding that the devices may cost $10-15 apiece.

As per the rule, the expedition organisers should manage the devices for their climbers and guides.

The department has been piloting the global positioning system (GPS) device, which provides positioning, navigation, and timing services, on Everest, for the past three years.

The pilot project, however, was meant to check whether the liaison officers deployed by the government to support Everest climbers have duly followed their duty.

A government investigation committee has revealed that most liaison officers, who are paid handsomely by the Everest climbers for their support, have been making false claims about reaching the Everest base camp.

Last year, 20 government employees deployed as liaison officers to support Everest climbers were strapped with GPS devices.

However, the type of device for climbers and guides has not been specified.

“We have not specified the name. But it should be a product that is certificated or meets international standards,” said Gurung.

The spring climbing season begins in early April as hordes of climbers embark on treks to the Everest region. The two-week summit window normally begins in the second week of May.

From hotels to restaurants, guides to porters, and airlines to helicopters, all eagerly await the spring climbing season as it generates much-needed income and jobs for the mountainous region.

The government earned $5.08 million by issuing Everest climbing permits last year.

Mountaineers say avalanches in Everest have become more common and such devices can help with prompt search and rescue.

On April 18, 2014, there was an avalanche near base camp which killed 16 Nepali guides. Rescuers pulled out 13 bodies and the remaining three were never recovered as search and rescue operations were called off as they were deemed too risky.

Then, in 2015, quake-triggered avalanches buried 20 climbers.

Lakpa Norbu Sherpa, the rescue specialist of the Himalayan Rescue Association, said, “Indeed this is a good move.”

“The tracking chips are not expensive, but they can be life-saving,” he said.

“No doubt, prompt rescue can save lives. If we get the precise location of the missing people, a quick rescue can help people who are in distress or imminent danger.”

Last spring climbing season, which ended on May 31, Nepal issued 479 permits, the most ever, for Everest compared to the previous record of 409 in 2021.

As Nepal plans to jack up the price of a climbing permit for Everest by $4,000 to $15,000 from 2025, operators said that climber numbers this year may hit a new record.

And the crowd signals another year of potential danger on the planet’s tallest peak.

“Based on the inquiries, we have estimated that the number of Everest aspirants will exceed last year’s figure,” said Thaneshwor Guragain, a manager at the Seven Summit Treks, Nepal’s largest expedition operator.

He said the operators would follow the government’s new law.

“It’s a much-awaited decision. If the climbers are strapped with the chips, it will cut down search and rescue time in the event of an accident,” said Guragain.

The tourism department has not specified the device name that operators can use. But, according to expedition operators, Recco devices are common in Nepal.

It has two components—reflector and deflector.

The reflector is a small, band-aid-sized, electronic transponder that weighs less than 4 grams and can be attached to clothing, helmets, gear and boots.

It is a battery-free transponder, a device that, on receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response.

While climbers use the reflector, professional mountain rescue teams use the detector.

“This detector responds to frequency signals of the reflector,” said Guragain.

The detector has a range of over 200 metres. They consist of a diode and an antenna. When the signal encounters the reflector, it bounces back to the detector. This allows rescuers to locate the reflector's position and thus the person wearing it.

“Had the three Sherpas buried in the Khumbu Icefall last year been strapped with the tracking device, it would have been easier to locate them,” said Guragain.

This spring, Seven Summit Treks, for instance, is retrieving the body of a Nepali guide, who was buried in the 8,027-metre-Shishapangma, in Tibet, last spring.

“We have traced the location and are waiting for snow to melt to retrieve the body.”

A mountaineering official said retrieving a dead body in the Death Zone is both costly and difficult because of the danger of the rarefied atmosphere. Death Zone refers to altitudes beyond a certain threshold where the oxygen pressure is insufficient to support human life for an extended period.

If a person is buried beneath the thick snow of an avalanche, it’s complicated to dig oneself out.

According to mountaineering officials, it may cost $20,000 to $200,000 to bring down a dead body from extreme points.

Most climbers’ bodies are left behind on Everest every year due to the difficulties and cost factors.

Including the last year’s estimated figure, there have been 8,270 summit ascents from the Nepal side since 1953.

The total summits from Nepal and China have reached nearly 12,000, according to the combined statistics of the Nepal government and the Himalayan Database.