I've been in the Himalayas and understand a bit about the scale of the mountains. However, considering the mountain is half in China, they should make the most of this. They should dig a huge train tunnel through the mountains to Kathmandu or wherever. When the tunnel goes under Everest they could build a big resort underground with a special elevator that goes all the way up through the rock to the summit. Then they could build a viewing platform up there, in a Plexiglas bubble pumped with extra oxygen. Anyone else trying to climb up old style would be allowed to stand on a special "pleb deck" while mainlander tourists inside take selfies from inside with mountaineers and sherpas in the background through the glass.

there are no trains in Nepal and the closest one to Everest on the Chinese side is in Lhasa

up to 11 dead; a sheer tragedy but its part the fault of the Nepalese government not restricting permits and needing to raise $$$. So far more deaths this year than all of last an they still have the fall season ahead.

Everest deaths: Four reasons why this climbing season went wrong

1. Missed weather window

Many of the climbers began gathering at Everest base camp at the start of May. At the same time, the authorities were concerned about the knock-on effects of Cyclone Fani which had already struck India and Bangladesh.

2. 'Bad crowd-management'

Mountaineering experts say this was when the crowd management went wrong.
23 May saw the maximum number of climbers on one day - more than 250.
Climbers had to wait for hours below the summit - both on the way up and on the way down.

3. Inexperienced climbers

Mountaineering experts say there is also an increase in the number of inexperienced climbers joining the growing crowd on Everest.
This time round, many of them had just one Sherpa guide with their team, officials at the base camp said.

4. Competition between operators

The quest to get anyone willing to pay has been mainly down to intense competition between operators, particularly old and new ones.
With the entry of new expedition operators offering cheaper prices, mountaineers say even some of the established ones have been forced to cut their fees.

"As a result, you see agencies hiring inexperienced people as guides who cannot offer the right guidance to their clients when they have a situation like this," said Tshering Pande Bhote, vice president of Nepal National Mountain Guides Association.
"Unfortunately the competition is for volume and not for quality."

Full article here
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-484 ... w9p1kdCfPk

5. Greed.

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 4:04 pm It's hard to stop a rolling snowball.
Has anyone got the will to regulate this?

my personal opinion;
going to be hard to regulate as Nepal needs the foreign income that this brings in.
Not just the permit fees, BUT the $$ that goes to the GH's along the way, the guides, the porters, the agencies, the shops in Kathmandu and on an on.
Its BIG business ( really beside carpets) the only business for Nepal TOURISM

Tourism has been down since the Maoists have been causing trouble an just the other day 3 bombs went off and more were found the next day and disarmed

https://www.independent.ie/world-news/a ... 51361.html