Everest’s Popularity Worries Top Climber

The growing popularity of Mount Everest has helped Nepal and its people but is a mixed blessing for the mountain, says Sir Edmund Hillary, the first climber to scale the world’s highest peak.

“I have the feeling that the people commercializing it have no great love of the mountain, but I can understand the policy of the Nepalese government,” Hillary said Saturday.

As keynote speaker at a $200-a-plate dinner to raise money for two foundations that work to improve conditions for Himalayan peoples, he noted that Nepal collects $10,000 from each climber.

“It’s a pretty poor country,” he said. “I think the majority of Sherpas don’t want restrictions.”

Still, when asked before the dinner about the rise of guided tours to Everest for less experienced climbers who pay $65,000 a person, he said, “I think it’s very unfortunate.”

Hillary, 77, who lives in New Zealand, scaled the 29,028-foot peak with Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa guide, in 1953. They have been followed by 669 climbers who made the top, and at least 152 have died trying.

Hillary said the Himalayan Trust he established has helped build and maintain 26 schools, two hospitals, some clinics and an airstrip to improve the lot of the people in Nepal.