Solo climbers,blind people and double amputees banned from climbing Everest

Solo climbers, blind people and double amputees
have been banned from climbing Everest under
new rules the Nepalese tourism ministry believes
will reduce the number of deaths on the
mountain.
The changes have provoked criticism from the US
ambassador to Nepal and a former Gurkha soldier
planning to scale the peak after losing both legs
in Afghanistan.
The new rules have been under discussion for a
month and were implemented last week, Nepalese
officials told the Himalayan Times.
Individual climbers will need to be accompanied
by a mountain guide, and high-altitude workers
who accompany expeditions to the summit are
eligible to receive summit certificates under the
revised regulations.
A suggested upper age limit of 76 for climbers –
which Nepalese alpine associations had lobbied
for after the death of an 85-year-old climber in
May – has not been implemented, but the
government maintained the ban on climbers under
16.
Everest once attracted only elite climbers, but as
the relative cost of scaling the peak has fallen,
the mountain has recorded numbers of aspiring
mountaineers, including many from China and
India.
Experienced climbers have raised concern that the
mountain is becoming dangerously overcrowded
and that new companies with lower safety
standards have rushed to fill demand in the
market.