[As one of the poorest countries in Asia, Nepal is heavily dependent on foreign tourists, some who see Everest as the culmination of a lifelong dream. The government has already collected more than $3.8 million in fees from climbing permits this year, and the amount of money that climbers spend while in the country typically accounts for an estimated $300 million in revenue.’]
Sure
enough, just weeks into the season, symptoms of the virus have been found at
Everest’s base camp, sparking a renewed debate about whether Nepal’s reliance
on the mountain as a source of revenue is getting in the way of safety.
On
Wednesday, Outside
magazine first reported a climber at base camp had been evacuated by
helicopter for what was believed to be high-altitude pulmonary edema and tested
positive for the coronavirus upon arriving at a hospital in Kathmandu last week.
The New York Times subsequently revealed that in fact
there had been multiple climbers who tested positive after being flown out of
base camp.
The
exact number of cases is unknown, and Nepal’s tourism ministry did not respond
to a request for comment.
“We
can be almost sure there have been other cases already this year that were
misdiagnosed or hidden, and that there will be more,” said Adrian Ballinger,
the founder of Alpenglow Expeditions, which chose to cancel its Everest treks
this spring. With infections rising in Nepal as neighboring India grapples with
an out-of-control outbreak that is driving a global surge, the crowded camps and
their rotating crew of porters and yak drivers provide “the perfect
setup for a superspreader event,” Ballinger said.
[An
often-overcrowded Everest has reopened to climbers. Some are questioning the
decision.]
Making
matters even worse, many common coronavirus symptoms bear a close resemblance
to the symptoms of altitude sickness and the “Khumbu cough” that
often plagues climbers at high altitudes.
As
of Wednesday, Nepal’s tourism department had issued 377 climbing permits to foreign climbers attempting to
scale Everest this year — close to the same number issued in 2019, when 11
people died on the peak and numerous fatalities were blamed on the long wait to
descend from the summit to base camp.
As
one of the poorest countries in Asia, Nepal is heavily dependent on foreign
tourists, some who see Everest as the culmination of a lifelong dream. The
government has already collected more than $3.8 million in fees from climbing
permits this year, and the amount of money that climbers spend while in the
country typically accounts for an estimated $300 million in revenue.
Last
year, that income source vanished as the pandemic hit and Nepal closed its
borders, canceling climbing expeditions. Nepali mountain guides — including
some of the best climbers in the world — suddenly found themselves in
poverty, forced to rely on growing rye and potatoes for sustenance.
In
the wake of a rough year, Nepal has welcomed climbers back for the popular
spring season, even though the pandemic is nowhere near over. Though a number
of international trekking companies canceled their Everest expeditions,
the ExplorersWeb blog noted, “local companies themselves
have been happy to welcome whoever signs up.”
So
far, the possibility of a coronavirus outbreak at base camp hasn’t put a damper
on plans, either. Climbing teams continue to make daily expeditions in
preparation for summiting Everest once the weather permits, and to hold group
dinners in crowded tents.
“All
is good here,” said Chhang Dawa Sherpa, the founder of Apex Nepal Treks &
Tours, adding that there had been no coronavirus cases detected among his
clients.
Furtenbach
Expeditions, a California-based outfitter that has one team at base camp and
another on the way, also has no intention of turning back. The company already
required climbers to be tested regularly and bans them from interacting with
anyone outside their immediate “bubble” and will stick with that strategy.
“That
said I am really concerned,” owner Lukas Furtenbach wrote in an email to The
Washington Post. “I do hope that there is no bigger outbreak in basecamp.”
Some
teams seem to be taking a lax attitude toward safety protocols, added
Furtenbach, who is on his way to the camp: “I can see that there are still
teams inviting everyone at basecamp for party via social media.”
Nepal
has also gradually eased its own restrictions for Everest trekkers: After
initially mandating all foreign climbers to obtain additional insurance that
would cover the costs of coronavirus treatment, it quickly relaxed that
requirement. Climbers must test negative for coronavirus infection before
boarding a plane to Kathmandu, but in late March the government announced that
a seven-day quarantine period would no longer be mandatory as long as a second
coronavirus test came back negative.
“We
expect that climbers and trekkers who were postponing expeditions or trips due
to tough rules will be coming to Nepal after this decision,” Mira Acharya,
director at the country’s tourism department, told AFP at the time.
Meanwhile,
masks and social distancing are not in wide use in the Everest area In Nepal’s
Khumbu Valley, which trekkers hike through on the way to base camp. People have
been “living life effectively normally,” Ballinger told The Post last month.
“That’s worked thus far because there hasn’t been an introduction of lots of
covid to the valley.”
Alpenglow
Expeditions made the decision to cancel Everest excursions this spring after
coming to the conclusion that “there was no way we could avoid covid cases and
no way we could treat covid cases,” Ballinger said. Having 300 climbers on the
mountain means bringing in roughly 500 Nepali support staff who work as porters
and assistants, often for multiple teams at the same time. Yak drivers deliver
food every few days.
“It’s
just not practical to think we’re going to be able to keep all those staff
people completely isolated,” Ballinger said.
Fearful
of adding to Nepal’s already overburdened health system, Ballinger also worried
that climbers who develop the coronavirus might mistake their symptoms for
altitude sickness and insist on staying on the mountain. He noted that many
higher-end companies canceled their treks this spring while lower-budget
operators insisted on forging ahead, potentially leading to a dangerous mix of
inexperience and overcrowding on the mountain.
Crowding
was a major concern even before the pandemic, and Nepal pledged to enact
stricter permitting rules for Everest after mountaineers recounted stepping over dead bodies on their way to the summit.
So far, however, the only new rule that has gone into effect is one banning photographs — which many view as an attempt to
limit negative publicity.
Everest
is a typical case of the coronavirus bringing a societal issue that already
existed into sharper relief, Ballinger said: “The problem is there’s zero
enforcement on the mountain.”
Read
more:
How Mount Everest became a tourist destination
Mount Everest has gotten so crowded that climbers are perishing
in the traffic jams
