A remarkable 274 adventurers managed to reach the pinnacle of Mount Everest in just one day this week, sparking concerns about the increasing congestion on the iconic mountain. With many willing to invest $15,000 for the chance to ascend the world’s highest summit, there are growing worries about the risks of overcrowding.
This surge in climbers far exceeds the previous record of 223 set in 2019, as confirmed by Rishi Bhandari, the secretary general of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal, during an interview with Reuters on Thursday.
“This marks the greatest number of climbers achieving the summit in a single day to date,” Bhandari stated, noting that the count could potentially rise as some climbers have yet to officially confirm their successful climbs.
This season, Nepal has already granted 494 permits for Everest expeditions, each carrying a price tag of $15,000.
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Climbers walk in a long queue as they head to the summit of Mount Everest in the Solukhumbu district, Nepal, on May 18, 2026. (Purnima Shrestha/Reuters)
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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