Nepal Opens 97 Himalayan Peaks for Free Climbing: Karnali & Sudurpaschim Royalties Waived to 2027

For decades, Nepal's mountaineering economy has been a one-mountain show. In 2026 the government is trying to rewrite that script — and it has put real money on the table to do it. Under a Cabinet decision taken on 17 July 2025, Nepal waived every climbing royalty on 97 Himalayan peaks across the remote far-western provinces of Karnali and Sudurpaschim, opening them to expeditions free of permit fees through 2027. For international climbers, it is one of the most generous access offers any Himalayan nation has ever made.

Why Nepal is giving its mountains away

The logic is in the numbers. Nepal collected roughly USD 5.92 million in climbing-permit revenue in 2024 — and about 77 percent of it came from Mount Everest alone. The country has hundreds of peaks open to climbers, yet the overwhelming majority of expeditions, money and global attention pile onto a tiny handful in the Everest and Annapurna regions. The far west, by contrast, is mountaineering's forgotten quarter: rugged, road-poor, and among the poorest parts of the country.

By scrapping royalties on these 97 peaks, the Department of Tourism and the Nepal Mountaineering Association are betting that climbers will follow the discount into Karnali and Sudurpaschim, spending on guides, porters, lodges and jeeps in districts that see almost no expedition traffic. The waiver was championed by NMA Secretariat member Rajendra Bahadur Lama, with backing from Tourism Minister Badri Prasad Pandey and Department of Tourism Director General Dr Narayan Prasad Regmi.

What climbing in Nepal usually costs

The savings are real, if modest on the smaller summits. A standard royalty on a minor Himalayan peak runs around USD 250–350; an Everest permit, after this year's hike, costs between USD 11,000 and 15,000. The far-west peaks have generated so little — about Rs 1.4 million over three years — that Nepal is effectively forgoing pocket change in the hope of seeding an entirely new trekking-and-climbing region.

The bigger play: training grounds for Everest

There is a second motive. Nepal is moving to require that anyone applying for an Everest permit first summit a 7,000-metre peak inside Nepal — a rule aimed at thinning out the inexperienced crowds that clog the upper mountain. Suddenly, three free 7,000ers in the far west — Api, Api West and Saipal — look less like obscure objectives and more like the obvious, affordable proving ground for a future Everest bid. You can read our breakdown of that proposed rule in Everest's new 7,000 m qualification bill.

How to actually get there

The far west is remote even by Nepali standards: expect long drives from Dhangadhi or Nepalgunj and multi-day approaches. The most accessible way to taste the region before committing to a climb is a trek into the same valleys — our Api Base Camp Trek walks straight beneath the highest of the free peaks, while the Rara Lake Trek opens up Karnali's lake country. For the high-desert culture next door, see our far-western Nepal travel guide.

Source: The Himalayan Times — “Nepal waives permit fees for 97 peaks in remote Karnali and Sudurpaschim.”

Cover photo: Sunuwargr via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).