kimilseung

You are allowed to, they dont really care as long you pay the very expensive permit fee.

Nutmegger

Yes, there have been many solo ascents.

scrubbedexpat099

The Big Picture
For 2015, costs have once again increased pushing the prices higher on both sides, especially for the low cost operators.

There are several drivers for the price increases. First the permit cost has gone up, not down as advertised by the Ministry. It is now a flat $11,000 per climber instead of $70,000 for a team of 7 or $10,000 per climber. Second, after the tragic deaths of 16 mountain workers in 2014, many companies will increase the life insurance required by the Ministry. It is now USD$15K up from USD$10K for what they call High Altitude Workers. Most operators will abide by these new levels but it is unclear if the requirement will be enforced evenly across the board and those competing on price will meet the requirement. The third reason for increased costs is inflation. Nepal’s inflation rate is currently 9.47%.

Additionally, Nepal has implemented a new rule that requires every foreign climber in Nepal to hire a local Sherpa Guide. This policy has been in place for trekkers since 2012 but not enforced. After the large number of trekker deaths in the Annapurna region earlier this year, the policy was re-communicated. I remain unclear if it will really be enforced in 2015 for Everest climbers but if so, will add a minimum of $4,000 to the absolute lowest cost.

Many non-Nepali operators are adding additional guides and services to their offering. Each Western Guide can make between $10K and $25K and this cost is passed on to the clients. Some companies are adding European chefs, adding to costs. Some are offering extra oxygen starting lower, adding to costs. In the end, this is real money and the client pays the tab.

Those at the high-end have again held their prices steady absorbing the increases. The average price of the companies I surveyed looks to be about $41,700 with no Western Guide and $57,000 on the south with Western Guides and $46,000 on the north.

The primary difference between north and south are the permit costs and support staff salaries. The North has seen dramatic prices variances for 2015 with high-end operators of Alpenglow ($79,000) and Himex ($64,000) entering the market and skewing averages. The traditional north operators average about $37,000.

Pulaski

Unfortunately for him his case has become a touchstone for trying to stop trophy hunting of big game animals. It is common and totally normal for high profile events to be used to change the law and or public opinion of all sorts of activities. It took 9/11 to tighten airport and on-plane security, it took the banking crisis of 2008 to tighten the rules on banks taking excessive risks, and the New Horizons rig explosion to tighten rules on oil rigs.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to raise public awareness of what most people consider is an abhorrent activity and if this a***hole gets caught in the crossfire (pardon the pun ) then too bad. As far as I am concerned his career is as expendable as Cecil the lion was to him.

Steerpike

I don't like hunting of any sort, but I will reluctantly accept it if the motivation is food and the target is fully utilized (food, leather, etc), and assuming the target is not an endangered species.
I've taken to buying only 'cage free' eggs, meat from responsibly raised pigs/cows, etc to do my part in eliminating the poor treatment of 'farmed' animals. If a pig/cow is raised ethically, and killed quickly, and is fully consumed, then that is definitely a different order of magnitude of issue compared to killing a lion for pure fun, and especially by using an arrow which is highly unlikely to be a 'clean' kill under the best of circumstances.

kimilseung

The full article suggests that solo climbing continues to be an option.

Cardienscarf

For me, personally, it's not an either/or situation but I agree with your sentiment.

Steerpike

The real issue here is, if someone is willing to pay $35,000 for a permit, in a country where $35,000 is an unbelievable amount of money, you can bet there is a massive amount of corruption and rule-bending going on. The 'facilitators' in Africa are probably breaking every rule in the book to make this guy happy, and for his part, the guy paying the $35,000 is surely aware that the facilitators are going to break the rules. He may be able to stand in court and 'prove' he did this legally, but I am certain he knew that illegal actions were going on in his name.

Nutmegger

And I think there is a big difference between the kind of "clients" described in books like Into Thin Air, who get boosted to the top by guides, and the professional climbers, who may have to band together to get a permit, and will use sherpas for the donkey work of setting up bases, but will make solo climbs in the end.

kimilseung

Yes, and the Nepali requirement to hire a guide, is likely to result in sub-contracting of these guides to bigger groups.

RoadWarriorFromLP

I already provided an article that showed that paying $50k-ish for this kind of thing is pretty normal.

It is legal to hunt lions in Zimbabwe.

The desire to try and convict this guy in the media is more worrisome than anything else, particularly when the story sounds as if it could be legitimate. Let's not confuse the distastefulness of his hobby and his questionable character with an intentional criminal act.

Steerpike

I view this differently. Yes, it's been going on for years, but it does not get mainstream attention and thus, flies under the radar. An incident like this brings the issue in focus to a larger audience and there is a very appropriate response. Whether it is Michael Vick fighting his dogs, food companies mistreating their animals, people illegally killing elephants for their tusks, or people shooting lions, rhinos and bears - it is barbaric and should be stopped.

And yes, it's barbaric that we have mass shootings every week in the US; there should be an equal amount of outrage on that issue also. The fact the public has become jaded to such events is truly sad, but that should not be used as a reason to suggest it's 'out of proportion' to be outraged by this killing - we SHOULD be outraged by all these things.

This guy is sick in the head if he thinks it is appropriate to shoot such a massive animal with an arrow. The fact it took 40 hours to track down and finally kill the animal indicates just how inappropriate his tool of choice was.

I truly hope he loses his livelihood; it may serve as a warning to others, and if nothing else will prevent him from funding such endeavors in the future.

Steerpike

Pre-Fu##cking-cisely!

kimilseung

Seems like this is not his first lion (2008). I kind of assumed people like this bagged one of each.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/schaff...7623354181680/

Steerpike

I agree it's legal to hunt lions in Zimbabwe; I agree it's fairly standard to pay $50,000 for the privilege. That does not in any way, shape, or form negate the fact that paying $50,000 in a country where people are dirt-poor (and government is corrupt) is likely to encourage widespread rule-breaking. We all agree the guide did illegal things (luring the animal out of the preserve). The only question is, is it likely our fee-paying shooter had any understanding of the murky actions going on behind the scenes. Given the prior conviction of this guy for breaking the rules in the past, I suspect he would have absolutely no qualms about turning a blind eye to any and all transgressions carried out in order to bring him his prize. Can this be proved? Maybe, maybe not. Unfortunately, proving this would require a lot of effort in Zimbabwe and I don't know what their capacity for finding the truth is in this case - better to leave it murky so the business can continue.