China imposes age limits on Everest

China is to set age limits on mountaineers hoping to climb in Tibet, authorities said, after an American 13-year-old became the youngest person to scale Mount Everest.

In May Jordan Romero from California successfully climbed the highest mountain in the world, accompanied by his father and Sherpa team. The ascent has sparked conversations all over the world around age limits on big mountains.

On Everest in particular, which straddles the Nepalese and Chinese border, Nepal has set a limit of 16 years or older to climb the peak, while until now China has had no such regulations.

The age limit will come into effect when the climbing season restarts in September, an official at the China Tibet Mountaineering Association told AFP, saying it was "for the safety of the climbers".

China has declined to give details around the new regulations, but expedition organisers in neighbouring Nepal said China was planning to restrict permits to climbers between the ages of 18 and 60, except in exceptional circumstances.

The youngest person to climb Everest prior to Romero was 16 year-old Nepalese climber Temba Tseri Sherpa , who suffered severe frostbite and subsequent finger and toe amputations after the descent.

Source article: AFP

Images: Reuters