This year has turned into a record-breaking season on Mount Everest, Sagarmatha, as Nepal issued the highest number of climbing permits and collected record royalty revenue. It has now also recorded an unprecedented number of successful summits from the Nepali side.

A total of 274 climbers successfully reached the top of Mount Everest on Wednesday (May 20), setting a new record for the highest number of ascents in a single day on the world’s tallest mountain.

According to the Department of Tourism and mountaineering operators, the climbers, both Nepali and foreign nationals, reached the 8,848.86-metre peak through 18 expedition companies operating from Everest’s southern route in Nepal.

Rishi Bhandari, general secretary of the Expedition Operators’ Association Nepal, said the number marks the largest single-day ascents in Everest’s history. “This is the highest number of climbers ever to reach the summit in one day,” Bhandari told Kantipur on Thursday.

The achievement also broke the previous record for ascents from Everest’s southern face. On May 22, 2019, a total of 223 climbers had reached the summit from the Nepali side. On the same day, another 131 climbers ascended from the Tibetan side, bringing the combined total from both routes to 354. Authorities have yet to disclose how many climbers summited from Tibet on the very day this year.

Officials say this year’s spring climbing season has already created multiple records. The Department of Tourism issued climbing permits to 495 people for Everest alone, the highest number since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa first scaled the mountain in 1953.

The department began issuing permits for the spring season on March 1. By May 21, Nepal had issued permits to 1,157 mountaineers for 30 different peaks, generating more than Rs1.24 billion in royalty revenue. Everest alone contributed Rs1.07 billion, according to department figures.

Ram Krishna Lamichhane, director general at the Department of Tourism, said the spring season had set new highs in both permit numbers and government revenue.

“The 274 climbers on Wednesday also represent the highest daily summit figure so far. The final number may change slightly when summit certificates are issued, but this remains the biggest summit group in Everest’s history,” said Lamichhane.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 14 peaks above 8,000 metres, including Everest, making the country one of the leading destinations for high-altitude mountaineering.

Officials say rising incomes in countries such as China and India, growing global interest in adventure tourism, and improved mountaineering infrastructure have all contributed to the increase in climbers.

“In recent years, Nepal’s mountains have received greater international exposure,” said Lamichhane. “At the same time, climbing has become more accessible because of improved technology, logistics and support services. Government facilitation in coordination with the private sector has also made the process easier.”

Among the 495 Everest permit holders this season are climbers from 55 countries. China leads with 109 climbers, followed by the United States with 77 and India with 61. Britain has 32 climbers, Russia 18 and Nepal 12.

Foreign climbers pay the Nepali government a royalty fee of $15,000 each to climb Everest during the spring season, while Nepali climbers pay Rs150,000. The amount excludes expedition charges, insurance and logistics costs paid to mountaineering companies. Nepali mountain guides assisting climbers are exempt from royalty payments.

According to expedition operators, Nepali climbers spend at least Rs3 million for an Everest expedition, while foreign climbers spend more than Rs6 million on average.

“Foreign climbers who use helicopters and premium services can spend up to Rs20 million during the expedition,” said Mingma Sherpa, chairman of Seven Summit Treks, one of Nepal’s largest mountaineering companies.

Himal Gautam, a director at the Department of Tourism, said more than 1,000 people, including climbers, Sherpas, high-altitude workers, cooks, support staff and government liaison officers, stayed at Everest Base Camp during the peak season.

Climbers are allowed to remain at base camp for up to 75 days and must complete their ascent within the permit period and favourable weather window. Gautam said nearly one-third of Everest climbers had already completed their ascents and that the base camp had started emptying. The climbing season is expected to end within the next 10 days.

This year’s expedition season began with serious challenges. Summit attempts were delayed by almost two weeks after a massive serac collapse blocked the Khumbu Icefall, considered the most dangerous section of the Everest route.

A team of ‘Icefall Doctors’ working under the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee reopened the route on April 28 after clearing the obstruction. The Khumbu Icefall lies between Lhotse and Nuptse mountains and is crisscrossed by deep crevasses that require ladders, ropes and anchors to create safe passage.

Eight Icefall Doctors and 16 high-altitude guides were deployed this season to prepare the route. Sherpa teams under the Expedition Operators’ Association later fixed ropes from Camp II to the summit, completing the route on May 13.

It has been only nine days since the summit route officially opened.

Lamichhane said Everest climbing has become a major pillar of Nepal’s tourism economy, supporting hotels, airlines, helicopter companies, trekking agencies, food suppliers and thousands of Sherpas and local workers every year. He added that the record number of climbers and revenues this season signalled that Nepal’s mountain tourism industry had fully recovered from the impact of the Covid pandemic.