How Much Does It Cost To Climb Mount Everest? + A Breakdown Of The Costs

If you are a keen hiker or climber and love to set your sights on the most adventurous and intrepid hiking goals, there’s a good chance that climbing Mount Everest is on your lifelong bucket list. 

As the highest mountain in the world on the land, Mount Everest beckons the most hardcore challenge seekers to train in order to head to the Himalayan mountain range and take a stab at summitting the mountain.

However, in addition to the various risks involved in climbing Mount Everest, as well as the tremendous amount of physical fitness and strength you need for such an arduous mountaineering trip, you will also need quite a bit of money. 

Climbing Mount Everest can be quite expensive. But how expensive?

In this article, we will discuss the costs associated with climbing Mount Everest, looking at various factors that affect Mount Everest climbing costs as we aim to answer the question: “How much does it cost to climb Mount Everest?”

We will cover the following: 

• How Much Does It Cost to Climb Mount Everest?
• Factors that Affect How Much Money It Costs to Climb Mount Everest
• Breakdown Of The Costs To Climb Mount Everest

Let’s dive in! 

How Much Does It Cost to Climb Mount Everest?

Several decades ago, only the most hard-core climbers would ever dream of actually summiting Mount Everest. 

After all, as Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world, the physical strain required to climb to such an exceedingly high altitude requires tremendous fitness. 

Plus, Mount Everest is a technically tricky climb, and climbers have to be extremely practiced in not only high-altitude hiking but also in using climbing equipment for scaling ice and snow, such as ice axes and ice picks, crampons, etc.

Even some of the fittest, hardiest, trained mountaineers attempt to climb Mount Everest only to fail due to dangerous weather conditions on the mountain, injury, or an unworkable bout of altitude sickness.

However, over the past two decades, advancements in mountaineering gear, navigational technology, climbing equipment, training for climbers, and experienced sherpas and guides have made climbing Mount Everest slightly more accessible for experienced climbers.

This is certainly not to say that an average, everyday recreational hiker can train for a couple of months and easily climb Mount Everest.

But, instead of just the very top echelon of the world’s best mountaineers being able to even try summitting the massive and daunting peak, it is now potentially tenable for determined, highly-trained, and experienced climbers to consider as an actual realistic, practical goal rather than a pipe dream.

However, despite the advent of Mount Everest climbing being somewhat more realistic for a larger number of advanced hikers and climbers, climbing Mount Everest is still certainly not something you can decide to do on a whim, or that will necessarily be practical for even trained athletes.

Before even considering the feasibility of the training involved in climbing Mount Everest, you will need to consider the practicality of such an adventure, which is why it’s important to understand how much to climb Everest.

Indeed, just as much as climbing Mount Everest is a tremendous physical feat reserved for only the most trained mountaineers, the cost of climbing Mount Everest is equally elitist.

So, how much does it cost to climb Mount Everest?

Although there are numerous factors that affect the price of climbing Mount Everest, the average climber can expect to pay anywhere from $30,000-$100,000 or more for a Mount Everest expedition.

Factors that Affect How Much Money It Costs to Climb Mount Everest

Here are some of the top factors that affect how much to climb Everest and what you will need to expect to shell out:

Expedition Style

The biggest factor that will affect how much it costs to climb Mount Everest is the expedition style you select.

Most prospective Everest climbers use a professional mountaineering agency to arrange all of the logistics for climbing Mount Everest.

There are different mountaineering agencies that offer this service, some of which are local to Mount Everest in Nepal as well as international mountain climbing agencies that offer Mount Everest expeditions.

Lastly, some climbers plan their own expedition, either with friends who have previously climbed Mount Everest or just using their own research, resources, time, and energy to plan their Mount Everest trek.

Planning your own Mount Everest expedition is definitely not recommended. You will need to have extensive experience climbing extremely high mountains, and you will have to pay for and arrange all of the logistics, such as oxygen, food, Sherpas, lodging, etc.

#1: Sherpa Only

For a guided Mount Everest expedition, the most affordable option is usually going with a Sherpa-supported climb using local operators.

With this type of support, climbers still have to plan all of the logistics themselves in terms of getting there, food, gear, necessary permits to climb Mount Everest, etc.

In addition to working out all of these logistics yourself, you also have to pay for them yourself and transport them yourself.

All the Sherpa does is go with you to help you make the best decisions regarding how to execute the Everest expedition, how to stay safe, and any modifications that need to be made along the way in terms of the actual protocol for climbing the mountain.

It’s important to note that the Sherpa doesn’t necessarily act as a guide as you climb Mount Everest, and he or she may not even speak your language. 

Therefore, this option is best reserved for only the most experienced climbing groups or those who are hiring a private Mount Everest guide to accompany the team on the journey.

Given the fact that this is a fairly bare-bones level of support for a Mount Everest expedition, the total cost is usually somewhere around $30,000, but that will not necessarily include everything you need, especially if you will hire an additional guide.

#2: Everest Climbs With Local Operators

Bumping up to the next price tier, hiring a registered guide or Sherpa from a local Nepali company is one of the popular ways to climb Mount Everest.

Many of these local guides have a tremendous understanding of the mountain and the safest way to successfully climb it.

This type of expedition generally includes the logistics, such as the sherpas who will carry gear, oxygen, food, extra climbing equipment, administration fees, and permits, built into the cost of the guided Mount Everest expedition.

The experienced Sherpa usually speaks English, or you may be able to hire one that speaks your native language.

The Sherpa will act as a leader up the mountain and will make all of the crucial safety and logistical decisions during the trek.

Although prices may vary, this level of Mount Everest expedition costs about $50,000 per person in the group.

If you spend much less than that when looking for a “Mount Everest deal,“ there’s a good chance that it will be a very large group, and the Sherpa may actually split up the group and attempt to summit the mountain with each faction of the group on different days.

This may mean that if you have poor weather on your schedule and “day,“ you are unable to actually successfully reach the top of Mount Everest.

#3: Guided Everest Expeditions With International Agencies

Historically, Mountain climbers would typically hire an international agency to arrange and lead the Mount Everest expedition.

Although there are still plenty of international mountaineering agencies that offer paid Mount Everest climbs (such as companies operating out of the UK, United States, New Zealand, Germany, etc.), the local Nepali expedition groups have become viable competitors and offer a more knowledgeable trip in many cases.

The benefit of going with an international agency is that the group size tends to be much smaller, which means that the entire group can summit the mountain at the same time. 

This means that the guides can select the optimal weather days for the entire group once they are at base camp. 

Therefore, the potential success of the expedition to the summit of Mount Everest is sometimes better than with a budget-friendly large group with a local Mount Everest tour guide.

Furthermore, some of the international agencies offer more of a luxury or comfortable experience, with better food, better lodging, Wi-Fi, a medical doctor who will accompany the climbing team, and a host of English-speaking tour guides.

This type of option usually costs a minimum of $50,000 if the tour guide is a local Nepali and closer to $70,000 for an international (“Western”) mountaineering guide.

Breakdown Of The Costs To Climb Mount Everest

Here are the various factors that go into the costs of climbing Mount Everest:

• Mount Everest permit: An individual permit is $25,000, but permits are typically sold for groups of 7 to 10 people, in which case the cost is $70,000, which is closer to $10-$12,000 per person. 

The fees are slightly higher if you are climbing from the Tibet/China side of Mount Everest. Expect to pay closer to $15,000-$18,000 per person in a climbing group.

• Admin Fees: In addition to paying the permit fee to climb Mount Everest, there are administration fees. There is a $2500 fee (plus a refundable dollar deposit). There is also a fee for the liaison officer of $3000 per team to obtain the permit.

• Sherpas: It typically costs $5000 per Sherpa per trek. An experienced or lead Sherpa will cost closer to $10,000 or more.

It is recommended that there is at least one Sherpa per group member.

• Food: Most mountaineers hire a cook for the Mount Everest expedition, which typically costs about $5000 for the group. Alternatively, you can buy food and supplies and cook your own food.

This will usually cost about $1000 per person for a six-week Mount Everest expedition.

• Gear: Appropriate climbing gear and oxygen will cost in the neighborhood of $5000-$8,000 per person.

• Insurance: Trek insurance usually costs about $3000-$10,000 per person, covering things like emergency medical evacuation, cancellations, etc.

• Travel: Travel fees include not only getting to Nepal but local transport to and from base camp. You will need to tip all of the guides, Sherpas, cooks, and transporters as well.

Is climbing Mount Everest on your bucket list? How do you plan to execute the expedition? Let us know!

If you are working up to Everest but looking for other hikes to take on first, check out our guide to the longest trails in the world.