The commodification of Mount Everest got on John Oliver鈥檚 HBO series Last听Week Tonight. Overcrowding is the biggest story听from the world鈥檚 tallest peak this season, thanks to the infamous听viral image of a long line of climbers waiting to get to the summit. Picking up with that photo, the segment from the June 23听episode touched听on the problems associated with climbing the mountain in 2019, none of which are especially new.
Oliver started听with the trash pileup, including the 鈥,鈥 left by the people, qualified or otherwise, who are paying minimal fees to make the climb the result of听a disastrously unregulated guiding industry on the Nepalese side of the mountain. The feature then reminded听viewers of the Sherpas听who do the bulk听of the work for their clients,听acknowledging that most of the people paying to summit would be unable to do so听without such听guides and porters.听听
Overtourism is having a moment. Long lines, smog, piles of waste, and needless deaths have become common听problems at popular destinations around the world. Visitors are served by a growing underclass they can鈥檛听recognize, like the oblivious climber from the segment who declares himself 鈥渇amily鈥听with the Sherpas hired by his expedition.听And even getting to where you鈥檙e going requires a massive expulsion of greenhouse-gas emissions. These issues aren鈥檛 unique to Everest, but at least they are somewhat fixable on the world鈥檚听highest mountain.听听
Author Mark Jenkins laid out a coherent plan to address these problems in an essay we听published last week. 鈥淪o the first and most fundamental way to reduce traffic jams, frostbite, and death on Everest is to radically reduce the number of permits,鈥澨齢e says.听He goes on to recommend听steps like establishing a concessions system for guiding services, requiring no-trace practices, and even the audacious suggestion that climbers take responsibility themselves.听
There are already a handful of destinations that require permits for adventurers, including Grand Teton and Denali National Parks. As long as the crowds keep growing, more places will have to start considering tighter regulations that might not be popular with travelers or the localities dependent on the revenue they bring.听
But Oliver does offer one viable solution for the Instagram-obsessed hordes鈥擯hotoshop. If you just want to climb Everest for the photo, why not save tens of thousands of dollars and make your own听with the services of ?听