Alan Arnette posed another story to the Outside Blog yesterday, detailing the costs of an expedition to Everest for 2009. Everyone knows that it is not only expensive to make such a climb, it also requires a great deal of time committed to training and preparation, not to mention that two months required to be in the Himalaya as well.
The story includes a handy chart that shows exactly what the top guide services are charging this year and who will be leading each of the teams. The prices are broken down on both the North and South sides of the mountain, with Rainier Mountaineering Inc. topping the list with a price of $74,000 for climbing on the Nepali side of the mountain. On the Tibetan side, the costs are a bit more modest, with the top climb running $32,250 from Summit Climb. And the cheapest climb? That would be from Asian-Trekking, which charges $30,000 and $21,757 on the South and North sides respectively. (Quite the bargain!)
As Alan notes, the main differences in the cost include the number of western guides on the trip, and the ratio of guides/Sherpa's to climbers. The cheaper climbs have few or no western guides, and just the minimum number of Sherpas to assist climbers to the summit.
All in all, a very good read from a man who knows his stuff. Not only has Alan been covering the Everest climbing season for years, he's also been on the mountain on three occasions as well. Now if I can just save my pennies, I should be able to make a climb of my own by the time I hit 80.
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