That's the third most-ever...a cool $7,000,000 in Everest income for Nepal...and a certain cluster F*** up on the mountain! Important to remember that some of those permits have been issued to teams of many, many climbers and support personnel. Nepal has proposed tight new rules for Everest that would go into effect next year, so lots of folks are trying to get their climb in this season ahead of that. To be sure...the Nepalese government is a mess at the moment...and there's no guarantee that the new rules will ever be realized. But a big crowd up there this season just in case. With all the trash, frozen corpses and life-threatending queues up high on the mountain...I just don't get the lure anymore. Mountaineering experience accounts for zero...if you get stuck behind a retired accountant with a big dream and lots of cash...at 25,000 feet. If you're so inclined to follow what's almost certain to be a debacle...this guy does a pretty decent job of tracking all the activity up there. ** Edited by great2bahokie at 5/7/2026, 11:22:58 AM