The ‘Peak hopping’ Debate

In the final months of 2006 four French climbers who went missing in Nepal made headline news across the world. Their disappearance and deaths has sparked a renewed awareness about the ‘Peak hopping’ debarcle, that the Nepalese authorities are claiming is rampant in the high Himalayas.

The four climbers Stefan Cieslar, Jean-Baptiste Moreau, Raphael Perrissin and Vincent Villedieu were all experienced mountaineers and did not use local guides. They bought a permit for the relatively inexpensive and straightforward 5,928-metre Mount Paldor, about 50 miles north of the capital, Kathmandu. But instead of climbing this mountain they then slipped across the Himalayas into China and attempted to climb the Tibetan face of Ganesh Himal 7, a mountain off-limits to climbers.

The Guardian reported that their deaths on this 7,242-metre (23,760ft) Himalayan summit has highlighted the high-risk culture of "peak hopping".

The Nepalese say that the phenomenon of peak hopping is now rampant. "Only a few peaks are open for climbers on the Nepal-China border. These [climbers] just take a permit for one mountain and then climb another," said Deebas Shah, the general secretary of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. "In this case it was Ganesh Himal 7, which is not open to climbers."

Mr Shah, whose association issues permits for Nepal's mountains, said: "At least 25% [of mountaineers] in Nepal are [climbing] illegally. Now the bodies of the French will never be recovered. They are lost on the Tibetan side."

Mr Shah noted that often the only fear for many climbers was the risk of being stuck on a mountain without any way of calling for help. But he said that this disregard for personal safety was the reason many did it. "We caught five last year. There's a fine about the same as a permit. But most don't care. There's no risk of being jailed."

Many mountaineers argue that it is unfair to charge exorbitant fees for permits to climb mountains, particularly when the Alps in Europe and many other ‘first world ranges’ are free and access is unrestrictive. Mountains, in this mindset, belong to the community and general public. To charge climbers and enforce permits is robbing people of their right to be in the hills. Closer to home the debate comes up repeatedly, particularly in the Western Cape.

Rumours around permits and restricted access on Table Mountain in Cape Town is an ongoing and controversial debate. In the mountains of the Hex, Winterhoek chain and the du Toit’s Peak area’s in particular, most of the mountains are privately owned by farmers and access is often difficult if not impossible.

Should this be allowed? Does the general public have a right to unrestricted access to the mountains? Vote in this month’s vote pole.

Sources: The Guardian and Reuters