Nepal Hikes Insurance for Sherpas after Mount Everest Ice Avalanche

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Foreign mountaineers will have to spend more for the insurance cover of their Sherpa guides to climb any Himalayan peak in Nepal including Mount Everest.

Wedged between India and China, Nepal is home to more than 1,300 Himalayan peaks - 414 of them, including Mount Everest, are open to foreign climbers who turn up in the hundreds every year.

An ice avalanche on Mount Everest in April killed 16 Sherpa guides in the biggest disaster in the history of the world's tallest mountain, highlighting concerns that the Sherpas were paid too little compared to the risks they take in guiding their clients on the dangerous slopes of Mount Everest.

Dipendra Paudel, a Tourism Ministry official, said the insurance cover for the guides would be raised to US$15,000 (S$18,773) from US$10,000. Medical insurance for each guide has also been increased to US$4,000 from US$3,000.