This week marked a historic achievement on Mount Everest as 274 climbers successfully reached its summit in a single day, setting a new record. However, this surge in climbers has sparked concerns among critics who argue that the world’s tallest mountain is becoming dangerously congested with adventurers keen to pay $15,000 for the experience.
The previous record from Nepal, set in 2019 with 223 climbers, was surpassed, according to Rishi Bhandari, the secretary-general of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal. Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, Bhandari highlighted the new milestone.
“This is the highest number of climbers in a single day so far,” Bhandari noted, mentioning that the count might increase as some climbers have yet to officially confirm their successful ascents.
For this climbing season, Nepal has granted 494 permits for Everest, each costing climbers a fee of $15,000.
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In a photograph captured by Purnima Shrestha for Reuters on May 18, 2026, climbers can be seen forming a long queue as they strive towards the peak of Mount Everest in Nepal’s Solukhumbu district.
Climbers this year are ascending only from the Nepal side of Everest because China reportedly did not issue permits for expeditions from the Tibetan side.
Nepal has already issued 494 Everest climbing permits this season, each costing climbers $15,000. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
Mountaineering experts have long criticized Nepal for allowing large numbers of climbers on Everest, warning that overcrowding can create life-threatening bottlenecks high on the mountain in Everest’s deadly “death zone,” where oxygen levels plunge to dangerously low levels.
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Mountaineers line up as they climb a slope during their ascent to the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal on May 31, 2021. (Lakpa Sherpa/AFP)
Nepal has attempted to respond to safety concerns in recent years by tightening rules and increasing fees for climbers, though some expedition leaders have defended the high number of climbers.
“If teams carry enough oxygen it is not a big problem,” expedition organizer Lukas Furtenbach of the Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures told the outlet. “We have mountains in the Alps like the Zugspitze where we have 4,000 persons on top per day. So 274 is actually not a big number, considering this mountain is 10 times bigger.”
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