Astoundingly beautiful mountain ranges are dotted all over the world, but Everest is a legendary, top-of-the-bucket-list challenge for plenty of experienced climbers.
However, the conditions on the mountain require great skill to navigate, and it’s one of the most dangerous tourist attractions in the world. In fact, the 2023 climbing season was one of the deadliest in recent memory, with 12 known deaths reported and five marked as missing, according to the BBC.
So, in a bid to increase the safety of conditions, Mount Everest climbers must now rent and wear a tracking device on their ascents. Each person will be required to hire a GPS chip for £7.50-11 (€9-13, $10-15) and have it sewn into their clothing. While this isn’t a new system, the chips have been voluntary until now.
‘Reputed companies were already using them,’ said Rakesh Gurung, Nepal’s Tourism Department director of mountaineering, to Travel Tomorrow, ‘[but now it’s mandatory] it will cut down search and rescue time in the event of an accident.’
‘The main objective of using this electronic chip is to make the search and rescue more effective and decrease the casualties on Mount Everest,’ he told TIME.
Home to eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains, Nepal’s spring climbing season (which is between early March and late May) has become busier than ever. But the chips aren’t the only safety measure in place.
In spring last year, after the number of tourists travelling without a guide or porter reached 30,000 in 2022, Nepal implemented a ban on people making the journey solo. Let’s hope these chips make the journey much safer for all those daring climbers.
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